The negative mental health consequences of intimate partner violence have been well documented in recent years. One aim of the present study was to examine psychological distress and mental problems in assaulted women who have left their relationships. Another aim was to explore these women's sense of coherence (SOC). A combination of qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative measurement instruments was used. Data were collected from 14 assaulted women with a mean age of 38, living in different places in Sweden. Impact of event scale-revised and symptom checklist-90-R show that the violence creates long-term psychological stress reactions and confirm previous research on the subject. Twelve of the 14 women have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The result of the interviews confirmed complex PTSD and disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified. On the other hand we found a surprisingly high SOC level among several of the respondents, a fact which could explain why these women finally managed to leave mainly by their own efforts. We call for more both qualitative and quantitative studies on this serious public health issue.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health problem. Previous studies show the complexity of a violent relationship and provide different explanations for the reasons why the woman do not leave. Recently the focus has also been on to women who in fact leave their violent relationships. There is a call for more research on the leaving process to identify key factors potentially amenable for intervention. With aid of constructivist grounded theory, within a Swedish context and through qualitative in-depth interviews, the aim was to increase the understanding of abused women's experience of leaving heterosexual violent relationships. The findings show that Fear is a central theme and phenomenon in the Process of leaving a violent relationship. Fear is described in many different ways and the analysis shows that these feelings function as both restraining and releasing factors. Three key categories, Restraining break up, Balancing between staying and leaving and Releasing turning point, were found and these could be related to the core category, Fearfulness as a driving force to leave.

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This article examines whether there is criminal justice for women in reported cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Sweden. A sample of 474 cases drawn from police records show that criminal justice for victims of IPV does not accord with the intentions of the law. Factors that were most likely to increase the probability of the crime report leading to prosecution were whether the suspect had been interrogated and whether the woman was cooperating. IPV crimes have been subject to public prosecution since 1982 in Sweden, which means that legal action can be taken without the women's cooperation, but in most of the cases that still seems to be a requirement for pursuing prosecution and for taking other legal action, such as issuing contact prohibition orders or the provision of injured party counsel. There is a need for greater knowledge of the complexity of IPV, and a greater willingness to take serious measures against these serious crimes.