Violence Against Women

Jessell, Lauren; Mateu-Gelabert, Pedro; Guarino, Honoria; Fong, Chunki

doi: 10.1177/10778012221137921pmid: 36537102

This study tests a theoretically informed model to understand why women who use opioids (WWUO) are at risk of rape while using drugs. Structured interviews were conducted with 168 WWUO. Three domains were hypothesized to increase risk: the sexually coercive context of drug use, women's social vulnerability, and drug use severity. Logistic regression examined the odds of being raped by domain. One-third of WWUO had been raped while using drugs. The sexually coercive context and social vulnerability domains significantly increased women's odds of being raped. Prevention efforts should target social and contextual factors.

Van Ooijen, Anna-Lea; Davids, Tine; Fitzpatrick, Lisa

doi: 10.1177/10778012231179222pmid: 37282557

Directly related to The Troubles, sexualized violence has been largely ignored, yet continues to affect significant numbers of individuals in Northern Ireland today. This article analyzes various women's stories concerning sexualized violence shared in testimonial theater projects in Northern Ireland. We argue that (a) artistic storytelling about sexualized violence in theater projects can be a tool to release individuals and the collective from the (normalized) silence surrounding these violent acts and (b) it is an epistemological transformative method of inquiry to address these acts with the aim of eliminating them.

Freitag, Stephanie L.; Lenzenweger, Mark F.; Crowson, H. Michael

doi: 10.1177/10778012221142918pmid: 36474445

Previous research reveals that rejection sensitivity is associated with both sexual violence victimization and self-silencing behavior, yet the association among these variables has not been examined. As the foundation for this study, we propose a theoretical model that integrates these constructs. Using mediational analyses with bootstrapping, the results from a sample of 241 heterosexual college women revealed that consistent with the proposed model, self-silencing mediated the link between rejection sensitivity and reports of unwanted sexual contact and rape. The implications of the findings for the prevention of victimization/revictimization and interventions with victimized women are discussed.

Edwards, Katie M.; Omondi, Benjamin; Wambui, Rose Alice; Darragh-Ford, Elise; Apollo, Rosebella; Devisheim, Haim Haikel; Langat, Nickson; Kaede, Beth; Ntinyari, Wendy; Keller, Jennifer

doi: 10.1177/10778012231153360pmid:

Pals, Andrea M.; Levi, Mary M.; Meier, Johnathan R.; Jenkins, Baylee D.; Le Grand, Alexis M.; Golding, Jonathan M.

doi: 10.1177/10778012231166404pmid: 37013381

This study investigated the impact of victim crying and gender on perceptions of rape cases. Participants (N = 240, 51.5% male, 48.1% female) completed a 2 (victim crying) × 2 (victim gender) × 2 (participant gender) between-participants design with case judgments (e.g., verdict) as the DVs. Results found that a rape victim crying during testimony increased pro-victim judgments compared to when the victim did not cry, that female mock jurors were more pro-victim than males, but that victim gender was insignificant. Finally, the mediation model found that victim crying increased their credibility, increasing the likelihood of a guilty verdict.

Schanz, Kimberley; Jones, Emily E.

doi: 10.1177/10778012231170862pmid: 37128720

In recent years, there has been increased attention regarding the impact of the media on individuals’ perceptions of the criminal justice system, specifically focusing on the CSI effect and forensic evidence. In order to expand this area of research, this article focuses on the impact and interaction of crime-related media-watching habits and victim gender on perceptions of blameworthiness and punishment of both victims and aggressors in sexual assault cases. As expected, results supported the hypothesis that increased media-watching contributed to more stereotypical perceptions of sexual assault cases. However, slight variations observed in blameworthiness and punishment based on victim gender were nonsignificant. Implications for future research are discussed.

Ray, Travis N.; Parkhill, Michele R.

doi: 10.1177/10778012221145298pmid: 36575637

The study utilized a latent profile analysis to evaluate distinct combinations of men's childhood victimization experiences and their communal predictive ability for sexual aggression (SA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Men living in the United States (N = 399) completed assessments of emotional, physical, and sexual childhood victimization, as well as SA and IPV toward women. The results indicated that members of profiles characterized by moderate to high frequencies of childhood victimization—especially sexual victimization—were at increased risk of SA and IPV perpetration. Contrary to expectations, adult- versus peer-perpetrated victimization did not appear to substantially alter risk of perpetration.

Bolton, Robert; Leane, Máire; Ó Súilleabháin, Fiachra; Edwards, Claire; Fennell, Caroline

doi: 10.1177/10778012221150273pmid: 36617942

Given the growing concern about perpetration of violence against women (VAW) amongst young adults, this article examines how a sample (n = 27) of Irish young adults (18–24 years) construct the term VAW. Participants drew on personal experiences to describe the term and were cognisant of the gendered perpetration of domestic, psychological, and sexual violence. A group of participants, however, constructed narrow understandings of VAW that did not align with their routinized experiences of unwanted touching and sexual microaggressions. We call for initiatives to enable young adults to name and link together different forms of VAW.

Childress, Saltanat; Shrestha, Nibedita; Kenensarieva, Kanykei; Urbaeva, Jildyz; Schrag, Rachel Voth

doi: 10.1177/10778012231186814pmid: 37487221

The study explores the perspectives of service providers on cultural and social reasons used to justify domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan. Results indicate that cultural norms, notably patriarchal customs, immense pressure put on women to save the marriage, stigma of divorce, low status assigned to women, wide acceptance of violence as natural, and fear of retaliation were major reasons that perpetuated domestic violence. Scholars, policymakers, and service providers must collaborate to actively dispel widely accepted beliefs about gender, marriage, and women's status, and to break the cycle of abuse providing help at the individual and community levels.

Giesbrecht, Crystal J.; Kikulwe, Daniel; Sato, Christa L.; Este, David C.; Watkinson, Ailsa M.; Falihi, Anahit

doi: 10.1177/10778012231158108pmid: 36815215

This study adds to a small body of Canadian literature investigating the ways that newcomer women experience, and are impacted by, intimate partner violence (IPV). The study involved qualitative interviews with 15 newcomer women who migrated to Saskatchewan, Canada, from 12 different countries. These findings provide insight into participants’ complex lived experiences and illustrate how women’s status as newcomers intersected with their experiences of IPV. As well as abuse related to language ability and immigration status, participants in our study described their experiences of physical; sexual; emotional; psychological; economic; and legal abuse; as well as coercive control; isolation; surveillance, stalking, and harassment while in the relationship and after separation; challenges with shared parenting; and the imposition of patriarchal values. Perpetrators of IPV maintained control by intentionally isolating survivors, and participants were also isolated due to their status as a newcomer and their limited English-language ability and social connections.