Co-researcher Professor Cathy Humphreys from the University of Melbourne says health professionals hold a position of trust that enables them to offer first-line support.
Professor Humphreys says that there are key behaviours that are indicative of psychological abuse and control.
During pregnancy, instances of overbearing behaviours or alternatively a lack of interest in antenatal care may indicate that a partner is using coercive control tactics, Professor Humphreys says. Signs of abuse could be limiting a woman’s contact with doctors; refusing to come to scans and appointments; and even making a scene when a visit is running late. Similarly, a lack of support or self-focus by partners is also worrisome, with some women saying that their partners blamed them for having too long a labour. This damaging behaviour also extends across motherhood, where partners may isolate women from family and friends, as well as criticize them on their mothering abilities. All these acts exemplify ways that partners shame and demean women, and all are important warning signals for health practitioners to look out for.
Professor Humphries says that health practitioners’ responses either helped women to identify their partners behaviours as abusive, or exacerbated women’s feelings of isolation and helplessness. We must find ways to ensure that all obstetric health practitioners can identify coercive control, so that we can help women to act and protect themselves and their children from further abuse.”
There is no excuse for abuse and it’s everyone’s responsibility to prevent it.
- Domestic violence statistics:
- 1 in 6 women (1.5 million) and 1 in 9 men (992,000) have experienced physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15 years.
- Intimate partner violence causes more illness, disability, and deaths than any other risk factor for women aged 25 to 44.
- On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.
- Globally, one in three women suffer physical or sexual violence from a partner, with the World Health Organization reporting increases of domestic violence during COVID-19.
References
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- Family, domestic and sexual violence https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/behaviours-risk-factors/domestic-violence/overview
- COVID-19 and violence against women What the health sector/system can do https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/emergencies/COVID-19-VAW-full-text.pdf?ua=1
- Our Watch Quick Facts Domestic Violence https://www.ourwatch.org.au/quick-facts/
- Dr Fiona Buchanan areas of expertise and research include mothering, child wellbeing, the effects of domestic violence on women and children, young people, and the effects of sexual abuse. Her PhD is entitled ‘The effects of Domestic Violence on the Relationships between Women and their Babies: Beyond attachment theory.’
- Cathy Humphreys is Professor of Social Work at University of Melbourne. For five years she held the Alfred Felton Chair of Child and Family Welfare, a professorship established in collaboration with the Alfred Felton Trust, the Department of Social Work at University of Melbourne and The Centre for Excellence for Child and Family Welfare in Victoria, the peak body for vulnerable children, youth and family organisations in Victoria.
Press release – Courtesy of the University of South Australia
For more information go to the this Global Resource Guide to learn more about what domestic violence looks like and find help.
https://www.mysticmag.com/psychic-reading/domestic-violence-resource-guide
Published in Conscious Living Magazine November 2020
