Identifying Lifetime and Occurrence of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sweden Seeking Emergency Care

Abstract

Background: Sweden is known for its strong views on equality between men and women. Nevertheless, if one scratches the surface, one will realize that intimate partner violence (IPV) is a problem meriting much closer attention. Emergency nurses have an important role in identifying women who have IPV experiences. Objective: To identify and investigate the occurrence of reported experienced IPV during their lifetime among women seeking emergency care. Design: An explorative and comparative design was used based on answers on the Abuse Assessment Screen questionnaire and some demographic data. The data was described and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21. Results: Of the 300 invited women visiting an emergency department in a small town, 234 completed the questionnaire. Of these 234, 82 (35%) reported having experienced emotional; physical or sexual violence and 31 (13%) reported to being afraid of their partner. Of the women 181 had one child or more and 58 (32%) of these reported having been abused. Of all women, with four or more children, 75% (15) reported to have been abused, while only 25% (5) reported no abuse. Of the 82 women who reported having been abused 12 (15%) reported being abused in the course of the year prior to pregnancy and 9 (11%) during pregnancy, often several times. The main abuser was the woman's husband, boyfriend, cohabitating partner, ex-partner, or someone else who was seen as a relative, e.g., a parent. Conclusion: Using the questionnaire AAS may contribute to identifying victims of intimate partner violence and increasing health care practitioners' attentiveness concerning the type of injury, frequency of care seeking and actions that may indicate such violence lead to changes of the woman's situation.

Risk Factors with Intimate Partner Violence among Women Seeking Emergency Care

“…This study is part of a larger study using an explorative and comparative design [20]. During September 2008 and June 2009, 300 women who were seeking treatment at an Emergency Department (ED) at a hospital in Sweden (40,000 inhabitants) and who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were consecutively invited to participate in the study by answering two questionnaires.…”