A Web of Disheartenment With Hope on the Horizon: Intimate Partner Violence in Rural and Northern Communities

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has become a worldwide epidemic, yet little is known about the experiences of women survivors living in rural and Northern Canadian communities. Existing statistics suggest that women living in rural areas of the Canadian Prairie Provinces and Northwest Territories (NWT) are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing IPV. To better understand the experiences of IPV in these regions, qualitative interviews were conducted with service providers, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Victims Services, Shelter Services, counselors, and others (e.g., physicians). In total, 122 participants were interviewed. These interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach where the data/results were transformed into a pictorial matrix that documents the struggles that service providers endure. The matrix/results highlight how social issues, such as isolation and poverty, contribute to social oppressions, such as lack of resources, transportation, and/or services. As service providers struggle against these forces, they begin to develop feelings of disheartenment. Yet, they continue to fight because there are opposing forces, such as Emergency Intervention Orders, police transportation, and Victim Services, that demonstrate how societal response is improving the lives and increasing safety in rural and Northern communities. Ultimately, the results suggest that to reduce the incidences of IPV, we must go beyond the violent acts and deal with the social contexts in which IPV resides.

Longitudinal impacts of an online safety and health intervention for women experiencing intimate partner violence: randomized controlled trial

“…As reported elsewhere [40], in qualitative interviews and exit comments women described using the tailored tool in conjunction with other services as part of their help-seeking. Larger centers are more likely to have services and resources that women can access to deal with violence and related issues; research has documented the unique barriers faced by rural women that make it particularly difficult to deal with IPV, including public visibility, lack of privacy, few appropriate local support services and perceived lack of options for staying safe [73][74][75], concurrent with increased risk of homicide from their abusive partners [75,76]. It is possible that we failed to adequately personalize the messages in the action plan to reflect their unique needs and experiences (e.g., strategies had an unrecognized 'urban bias', suggesting that women seek out services that might not exist).…”

Intimate Partner Violence and COVID-19 in Rural, Remote, and Northern Canada: Relationship, Vulnerability and Risk

“…Most inhabitants of small communities have quite extensive knowledge of the lives of others in their community. In the case of IPV, this knowledge can amplify hurtful community gossip, generate retribution by one family against another or within families, increase the marginalization and stigma faced by victims of IPV, and may serve to silence victims of violence as a form of self-protection (Faller et al 2018;Moffitt and Fikowski 2017). The stigmatization of victims of communicable disease, including frontline workers, was seen during the Ebola outbreak in Africa (Van Bortel et al 2016) and SARS in Canada (Cava et al 2005).…”

“…In some cases, the police may not respond to the call-in person, but only over the phone. Isolation, in terms of distance to services and distance for police to travel to respond, may act as deterrents to victims when deciding whether to seek assistance (Faller et al 2018).…”

“…Providing services to victims of IPV in RRN communities is always challenging, and a global pandemic now heightens these challenges. IPV service providers may experience frustration and feel that their hands are tied when trying to support women dealing with myriad issues including poverty, unemployment, lack of resources, isolation, Indigenous concerns, and challenges with the legal system (Faller et al 2018;Wuerch et al 2019). Other staffing issues, including high turnover rates, inadequate training, staff shortages and burnout, also contribute to challenges in service provision (Faller et al 2018;Moffitt and Fikowski 2017;Wendt et al 2017;Wuerch et al 2019).…”

Intimate partner femicide in context: An examination of firearm type across the rural/urban divide

“…Research finds IPV tends to be more severe in rural areas and scholars speculate this may be because of these barriers to help-seeking behavior. This, in turn, contributes to waiting longer, and until the situation is more severe, to seek help, if at all (Denham, 2003;Faller et al, 2018;Peek-Asa et., 2011;Strand & Storey, 2019;Van Hightower & Gorton, 2002). This could also explain the higher rates of fatalities as victims of partner violence are not able to get the help they need.…”