UNCOVER: UNderstanding COercive control and psychological ViolencE to inform health sectoR change

Context for our work on PV

Psychological violence (PV), including coercive control, reproductive coercion, emotional, financial and spiritual abuse is an underdeveloped field and the little we know about the effects on both women and children are complex and often hidden.

Health services are uniquely placed to identify the diverse needs of women and provide responses where different types of abuse are occurring. However there is inadequate training, workplace support and clarity around referral protocols and pathways to build and sustain the knowledge, skills, and confidence of health providers to enquire and respond to psychological violence.

The work of the Safer Families Centre will assist a deeper understanding of PV, the links between physical and psychological violence, the needs of women experiencing these types of violence and how health services can respond.

Part 1: “A Cult for Two People”
True stories of emotional abuse in the context of family violence.

These videos may contain content that could be triggering for some viewers. We recommend undertaking a grounding exercise before and after viewing

Part 2: “Respond with Kindness” True accounts of what women expect from health practitioners.

Objectives of UNCOVER program

Oak Foundation

Oak Foundation commits its resources to address issues of global, social and environmental concern, particularly those that have a major impact on the lives of the disadvantaged. With offices in Europe, Africa, India and North America, Oak Foundation makes grants to organisations in approximately 40 countries worldwide. The project described below has been made possible thanks to the support of Oak Foundation. It forms part of the Issues Affecting Women Programme’s new grant-making strategy highlighting psychological violence/coercive control in intimate relationships. One of the strategy’s priorities is to have research that leads to practical outcomes. Learn more about Oak’s Issues Affecting Women Programme here.

Safer Families Project Team

Project Manager

Aims

The key focus for this project is on psychological violence and how this type of abuse needs to be urgently addressed in the identification and response to domestic violence in health services.

The aims are to:

Achieve an effective dialogue of key messaging for policy and practice that addresses psychological violence alongside other types of domestic violence
Build a practical health system model, based on new knowledge, to mobilise innovation for health services to effectively engage with women and their children experiencing psychological violence
Facilitate health services to empower women experiencing psychological violence to seek safety and healing using a trauma and violence informed approach, sensitive to various contexts and cultures
Work in partnership with and reflect the voices and realities of women with lived experience of psychological violence, with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse needs of women
Generate evidence that influences policy and practice globally to promote social and cultural change towards psychological violence being seen as part of the spectrum of domestic violence to prevent trauma to women and their children

Projects Update

Reproductive Coercion (RC)

20 in-depth interviews with women victim/survivors of RC undertaken, transcribed and ready for analysis. Sample included women who experienced force or coercion to become/remain pregnant and those forced to have a termination. Further interviews are still being undertaken.

Types of Abuse

Project A: Definitions and measures of psychological violence (PV) - Literature review of current measures of PV completed. PV defined with 3 main dimensions in a new 32 item measure of PV developed by experts including survivors.
Project B: Associations between types of abuse - We have surveyed N=1,027 victim/survivor participants about their experiences including a timeline of behaviours and events. See example timeline below.
Project C: What women want from health practitioners: Interviews still to be conducted.
Project D: Role of shame: Project about to commence.

Effect of COVID

Sub-study within 18-year longitudinal study of 1507 first time mothers and children. Data collected June -September 2021 with second wave of pandemic in Victoria.
419 mothers completed online survey on experiences of pandemic, family relationships, IPV, mental health and use of health services. Preliminary analyses indicate there was an increase in prevalence of PV during the pandemic compared to first, fourth and tenth year of motherhood.
264 adolescents completed online survey on experiences of pandemic, online learning, peer and family relationships, mental health and use of health services.
Further analyses investigating family experiences during the pandemic; the correspondence between mothers’ and adolescents’ reports of family conflict; prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among mothers experiencing IPV; and use of health services.

Non-physical risk factors

Victorian police data particularly on pet abuse has been analysed, showing high risk for this behaviour for subsequent severe IPV and sexual violence. Second data set is in process to see how it clusters with other PV.