Who Listens?: The Voices of Domestic Violence Survivors in Service Provision in the United Kingdom

• NCJ Number: 214360
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 12 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 568-587
• Author(s): Gill Hague; Audrey Mullender
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the results of a United Kingdom (UK) study, 1 of 20 funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, of the views of abused women regarding UK domestic violence policy.

Abstract

The study focused specifically on whether the views of domestic violence survivors were heard and acknowledged by service providers. Results indicate that few agencies and professionals who serve domestic violence survivors are attempting to incorporate the voices and experiences of abused women. Of all agencies and service providers, women’s shelters and women’s outreach services were viewed most favorably by domestic violence survivors in terms of their willingness to listen to and acknowledge their views and experiences. One reason may be that in almost all shelters and women’s groups included in the study, domestic violence survivors were counted among their staff, volunteers, or management. Agencies that did not cater specifically to domestic violence survivors were viewed as unresponsive to the lived experiences of abused women. The authors consider how the participation of domestic violence survivors may be incorporated in a meaningful way into the services and systems meant to assist them. Obstacles to abused women’s participation are identified and include poverty, low self-esteem, and the stigma of domestic violence. The research suggests that a formal mechanism for abused women’s participation is necessary; informal systems of participation were viewed as artificial and without impact. Such a formal system of participation would need to include compensation, in the way of payment for expenses and childcare, for the domestic violence survivors who participate. Innovative approaches to gaining and learning from abused women’s participation are identified and examples of programs that have been both successful and unsuccessful are presented. The research for this project was conducted over a 2-year period in the United Kingdom and involved interviews with 112 women service users and 83 service workers. References