Kaleidoscope - Volume 221 , Issue 2

Tracy, Derek K.; Joyce, Dan W.; Albertson, Dawn N.; Shergill, Sukhwinder S.

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is underreported and underdocumented, but it is the most common form of violence worldwide and makes a significant contribution to subsequent mental health problems. The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on IPVReference Oram, Fisher, Minnis, Seedat, Walby and Hegarty1 sets out what we know and provides a road map for where we need to get to, particularly in secondary mental healthcare. Variation is notable by country (with national income level a significant factor), along with any minority status, but overall it's estimated that 27% of ever-partnered women will experience physical or sexual IPV in their lifetime, including almost a quarter of those aged 15–19 years. Exposure to IPV and suffering mental illness (particularly substance use) increase rates of perpetrating further violence, but the authors note the ethical and stigmatising complexities of this, including potentially pathologising women's responses to violence and oppression. A key message from the paper is that although IPV is endemic, it is not inevitable, and there are evidenced preventive and interventional opportunities at the level of the individual, the family, the community and society itself.

• Journal Article Type: Editorial
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jul 22, 2022
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2023
• Journal: British Journal of Psychiatry
• Print ISSN: 0007-1250
• Electronic ISSN: 1472-1465
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 221
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 505-506
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2022.92
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10881319
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/kaleidoscope/356352B7647A6160523B1D79F040EF15