Intimate Partner Violence
Other terms we use
Collective trauma[1] is the cultural and historical trauma that can impact individuals and communities across generations. Individual trauma is the experience of an event/condition in which the individual experiences, witnesses or learns about a threat to their life or psychic/bodily integrity (or that of a loved one) and their coping capacity/ability to integrate their emotional experience is overwhelmed.[2]
Despite exposure to such adversity, resilience is a dynamic process in which psychological, social, environmental and biological factors interact to enable an individual at any stage of life to develop, maintain or regain their mental health.[3]
[1] Atkinson J. Trauma trails, recreating song lines: the transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia. North Melbourne: Spinifex Press; 2002.
[2] Humphreys C, Jacobs S. Domestic Violence and the Politics of Trauma. Wom Stud Int Forum. 2004;27(5-6):559-70.
[3] Wathen C, MacGregor J, Hammerton J, et al. Priorities for research in child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and resilience to violence exposures: results of an international Delphi consensus development process. BMC Pub Health. 2012;12(684).
Why focus on Intimate Partner Violence?
Global, national and state policies state the urgent need to address intimate partner violence (IPV).
This ’wicked problem’[1] demands an inter-sectoral approach, underpinned by a strong universal health system capacity to identify and tailor responses to the specific circumstances of affected families.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified the crucial role of an effective health system in reducing the extensive damage from IPV especially for children.[2] [3] [4] The National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their children 2012-22 also prioritises an ‘enhanced service response’ to reduce the significant emotional, public and economic costs.