The FRIEND study

The FRIEND study: how friends respond to young women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV).

Young women are more likely than older women to be subjected to abuse from an intimate partner, though they rarely seek professional help. Instead, they most often disclose the abuse to their friends. In many cases, their friends also witness or notice signs of IPV. Thus, friends can be critically important sources of support for young women. Yet there has been little research on how young women perceive the responses of friends, or on how friends perceive responding to IPV.

This PhD study by Mandy McKenzie explored the interactions between young women experiencing IPV and their friends by interviewing both young women and friends. The findings reveal that the ways in which friends respond to IPV can have significant implications for how young women perceive themselves. For friends, offering support can be challenging and can affect the dynamics of the friendship and their own wellbeing.

The study’s findings provide valuable information for the development of interventions for friends of young women experiencing IPV.

 To read more about the findings see:

https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-a-friend-experiencing-abuse-needs-most-is-an-ally