Violence and Victims

In the two decades since federal law prohibited the trafficking of humans for sexual or nonsexual services, researchers have generated knowledge related to the mental and physical health consequences of the experience, the individual and environmental factors that facilitate exploitation, and the best practices for prevention and intervention. Despite these advances in knowledge about human trafficking, relatively scant research has explored the resiliencies of survivors, as a deficit-based narrative persists when exploring and contemplating survivor experiences...

In recent decades, scholars and professionals have investigated the courts' treatment of mothers and children who claim that an ex-partner/father is abusive, especially in child custody proceedings. In Italy, Laws 54/2006 and 154/2013 established that joint-custody and coparenting are critical to ensure the best interest of the child. In the process of custody determination, judges can appoint an expert to assess parenting skills. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the knowledge, opinions, and practices of the Court-Appointed Experts (CAEs) in child custody disputes in cases involving allegations of domestic violence (DV)...

Violence against women is a global problem. The current mixed-method study examined the relationship of battered women with primary care physicians (PCPs) and their thoughts on primary health care. In-depth interviews were conducted with 55 participants, using a semi-structured interview approach between April 1 and May 31, 2019, in women's shelters managed by municipalities in Ankara, Turkey. The study results showed that only 11% of the participants told their PCPs that they were exposed to violence. The most common reasons for not sharing this information were shame, lack of communication, concerns about confidentiality, and the thought that the subject was beyond the scope of the PCP...

The goal of the study was to determine factors associated with domestic violence in menopausal women. This was a cross-sectional study that 350 menopausal women participated. Data gathering used a World Health Organization's violence against women instrument. Emotional violence was recognized as one of the most experienced types of domestic violence (48%). According to the multivariate logistic regression model, the status of exposure to sexual violence (before marriage) and the partner's substance abuse was the most robust risk factors for domestic violence, while factors such as employment of women and satisfaction of income were protective against domestic violence...

Research on the role that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) plays as a moderator of the relationship between exposure to violence and violent recidivism is limited. The Pathways to Desistance data were analyzed to examine these relationships. Survival analysis was used to examine ADHD as a risk factor predicting time to violent recidivism. Cox-proportional hazard modeling was used to assess the impact of ADHD on violent recidivism risk and examine ADHD as a moderator of the relationship between exposure to violence and violent recidivism...

This research first aimed to test the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a model to understand the intentions to call a helpline of victimized males and females. A sample of 99 participants (53 males; 46 females) who were suffering violence at the time of participation were considered for analysis. Our results indicate that males and females' attitudes and subjective norms significantly predicted intentions. Second, this study aimed to measure Gender Role Conflict (GRC) in victimized men and test its association with TPB constructs...

Survivors of sexual assault (SA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) report high rates of alcohol misuse and often receive services from community agencies. We conducted a qualitative study to examine barriers and facilitators to treatment for alcohol misuse after experiences of SA/IPV among survivors ( N = 13) and victim service professionals (VSPs; N = 22) at community-based agencies using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Survivors discussed seeking treatment for alcohol misuse when alcohol is being used to cope with SA/IPV-related distress and when alcohol use becomes problematic...

This study was designed to shed light on the relationship between victimization and offending, a pattern commonly known as the victim-offender overlap, by exploring whether victimization and pessimism toward the future interact in association with self-reported delinquency. This study was performed on 1,300 (444 males, 645 females, and 211 sex not identified) members of the 2018 High School Senior Monitoring the Future cross-sectional study. Multiple regression analysis was conducted using a maximum likelihood estimator and bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals...

Hispanic/Latinx individuals disproportionately experience intimate partner violence (IPV) compared to their non-Hispanic/Latinx counterparts, and little is known about IPV among college-aged Hispanic/Latinx students. This study examines the rates of IPV victimization and perpetration and their correlates among Hispanic/Latinx and non-Hispanic White college students by analyzing cross-sectional survey data of 3,397 Hispanic/Latinx and White college students enrolled in seven universities. Compared to their White counterparts, Hispanic/Latinx students reported higher rates of IPV victimization and perpetration...

There is a dearth of research on the relation of men's cumulative experiences of nonintimate victimization (polyvictimization) to their victimization in intimate relationships. This study examines the association between nonintimate polyvictimization (including being abused as a child, cyberbullied, stalked, physically assaulted, and experiencing property crime) and the severity of intimate partner violence victimization in men. The sample of 8,784 men in current married/common-law relationships was drawn from a random sample of the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey...

On American college campuses, numerous students have died as a result of hazing activities perpetrated in fraternities, sororities, and other student groups. Still, little is known about the common characteristics among these hazing deaths. This study aims to investigate the circumstances surrounding these fatal incidents by examining hazing deaths that occurred at institutions of higher education in the United States from 1994 to 2019. This analysis revealed common characteristics related to the victims, organizations, institutions, incidents, and outcomes of these deaths...

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal mediationa(l pathways on the link between various straining experiences and suicidal ideation and to test whether its relationship was mediated by the role of negative emotions, constraints, and motivations. Data for this study were collected as part of the Korean Welfare Panel Study, which was a longitudinal study conducted among 7,027 Korean households, surveyed annually from 2006 to 2012. The results indicated that bullying victimization had important effects on negative emotions, although bullying victimization was not significant for later suicidal ideation...

Childhood violence victimization is a serious adverse childhood experience with lasting health impacts. This study examined the prevalence and characteristics of five forms of childhood violence victimization and their association with revictimization and negative health conditions among adults. Data are from the 2010-2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Age at first victimization and perpetrator sex were assessed; adjusted odds ratios assessed associations with revictimization and health...

Research on polyvictimization (i.e., experiencing multiple types of victimization) suggests that its effects are diverse and may be more severe than the effects of single-type victimization. Few studies have focused on polyvictimization among college students and how its experience may shape academic life. Thus, this study examines how polyvictimization (i.e., sexual, violent, and stalking-in the last 12 months) among college students relates to academic performance. Participants ( N = 67,972) were drawn from the Spring 2019 administration of the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment II...

Sexual harassment (SH) is an uprising problem worldwide, especially in Egypt. This study aims to determine the magnitude, patterns, and circumstances of SH among female students at Suez Canal University. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative female student sample ( N = 644 ) from all the faculties using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The high prevalence of SH among college students in this study could be a consequence of the absence of knowledge about the legal framework. It mostly happened at all times of the day and night in the streets, and the least amount happened on the campus...

Sexual assault (SA) is a serious challenge faced by the U.S. military. Participants in this study included men and women who volunteered in response to a call for survivors of SA. Participants included active duty and reserve U.S. Air Force (USAF) members, spouses of service members, or civilian employees for the USAF (beneficiaries). The primary research question was, "if you could design the perfect response system to support survivors, what would be included in this system?" The research team conducted in-depth interviews with nine survivors...

This study investigated the effect of the victim's gender and the perpetrator's attractiveness on the observer's blame on the male and female victims of coercive sexual contact. Two hundred and ninety-six participants (184 females) were enrolled in an experiment in which the victim's gender and the offender's attractiveness were manipulated using vignettes depicting cross-gender sexual assault. Participants rated emotions that the victims experienced in being assaulted and attributed victim blame. The results indicate that the male victim was blamed more than the female victim, especially when the female perpetrator was described as attractive...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important public health problem. Female victims of IPV do not always use the institutional resources available to them. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Spanish 2014 Macro-Survey on Violence Against Women. The findings show that 15% of the survey participants suffered from IPV in the last year. The factors associated with a higher probability of suffering IPV are being of non-Spanish nationality, being a student, having a low-educational level, having no income, being the household head, and not having a current partner...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced victim service organizations to establish new service provision protocols to include remote/telehealth services. We conducted N = 12 qualitative interviews with sexual assault advocates working in an urban agency in a predominately African American U.S. city to understand how they adapted services to meet the needs of their community. A thematic analysis revealed this organization was under-prepared for prolonged interruption of in-person services. Even though this agency was able to create telehealth options, many clients did not have the financial and technological resources to utilize these services...

While there is substantial public health literature that documents the negative impacts of living in "food deserts" (e.g., obesity and diabetes), little is known regarding whether living in a food desert is associated with increased criminal victimization. With the block group as the unit of analysis, the present study examines whether there is a relationship between food deserts and elevated crime counts, and whether this relationship varies by racial composition. Results from multiple count models suggest that living in a food desert is not associated with higher levels of violent or property crime...