Intimate Partner Violence and Other Associated Problems: Sectoral Cooperation to Optimize the Safety of Women and Children

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of sectoral cooperation strategy involving different organizations concerned by intimate partner violence and other co-occurring problems in the province of Quebec (Canada). The sectoral cooperation meetings (N = 63) were held from February 2018 to June 2019 and 250 evaluation questionnaires were filled out by the practitioners. The data collection tool was composed of open-ended questions (qualitative section) along with Likert scales and multiple-choice questions (quantitative section). The results showed that a large majority of the practitioners considered that cooperation helped to improve the safety of the women and their children and to optimize their practice. Likewise, all of the practitioners considered that sectoral cooperation represented a winning strategy worthy of further development. Findings highlight the importance to support practitioners in complex clinical situations when IPV co-occurred alongside mental health problems, addiction problems, or child maltreatment, and this, in order to ensure the safety of intimate partner violence victims and their children.