A qualitative study of five women's experiences of abuse by an intimate male partner

Woman abuse is now well recognised as a local and international concern that has serious repercussions for women's health and well-being. Little however is known about what it feels like to be abused by someone you love. How does a woman make sense of a life of physical and psychological abuse? Why does she stay in the abusive relationship? To gain more understanding of this complex dynamic, a qualitative study of five women's experiences of violence by an intimate partner was performed. The first part of this paper, a literature review, examines women's accounts of their experiences in abusive relationships by looking at common themes across these studies. The second part details the research process. The knowledge uncovered by the women's stories, can provide family physicians with valuable insights for devising strategies to identify and intervene in domestic violence.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Public Health and Family Medicine

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Christians, Felicia

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Schweitzer, Beverley

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8790

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8790