Umeå universitets logga

Intimate partner violence is a pervasive injustice that affects one in three women globally. Women experiencing intimate partner violence require immediate, compassionate and nonjudgemental support, not only to prevent negative outcomes and aid in recovery but also to encourage functionality and resilience. However, maintaining equitable relationships during the support-seeking process poses challenges. Formal support can either validate or contribute to re-victimisation, thereby influencing the rectification or reinforcement of injustices. This article explores the experiences of women with disabilities seeking formal support relating to intimate partner violence, utilising an epistemic injustice lens. The focus is on formal support in Sweden, delivered by professionals in healthcare, social services, the police, women's shelters, and the Centre against Violence (centrum mot v & aring;ld). Employing reflexive thematic analysis guided by epistemic injustice as a theoretical framework, the results reveal instances of epistemic injustice. Participants expressed feelings of marginalisation, unheard voices, mistrust and misunderstanding within a formal support system they described as unintelligible and fragmented. Continuous scrutiny of the support-seeking process, coupled with improvements in the capacity of support providers and a re-evaluation of guidelines and procedures, becomes essential to promote inclusivity for women with disabilities, thereby contributing to the achieving of epistemic justice.

Aim: This thesis explores the lived experiences of women with disabilities subjected to intimate partner violence (IPV) and assesses support providers’ readiness and self-perceived competence to support them. It applies an intersectional and epistemic injustice lens to understand how gender, disability, and structural aspects shape both experiences of IPV and institutional responses.

Methods: This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods and comprises two sub-studies. The first sub-study involved in-depth interviews with 11 women with disabilities who had experienced IPV and sought support from various formal support institutions, including the police, social services, shelters, healthcare, and the Centre against Violence. Their narratives were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The second sub-study assessed the perspectives of support providers through a nationwide survey (N=1,151) and 18 qualitative interviews, focusing on their self-perceived competence and readiness to support women with disabilities subjected to IPV.

Findings: The women with disabilities interviewed reported experiencing multiple forms of IPV — physical, psychological, sexual, economic, digital — and disability-specific abuse, often extending beyond intimate partners to others in their intimate personal spaces. They described psychological abuse as being particularly harmful yet often overlooked in institutional responses. The women’s experiences were marked by testimonial injustice, where their credibility was undermined and hermeneutical injustice, where support systems lacked the conceptual and structural frameworks needed to understand and respond to their needs. Support providers indicated that IPV and disability-specific training enhanced their self-perceived competence. However, where disability-specific guidelines existed, they were inconsistently followed. Readiness to support women with disabilities was shaped not only by individual training but also by systemic and organizational factors, including employer support, the presence of clear routines and guidelines, collaboration within and between institutions, and adaptations to ensure accessibility.

Conclusions: This thesis underscores the need for structural reforms to ensure disability inclusion in IPV support services. Tailored guidelines, meaningful accessibility, institutional collaboration, and recognition of disabled women as credible knowers are essential.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global issue, with women, especially those with disabilities, facing a higher lifetime risk than those without disabilities. Given the elevated risk factors and challenges related to having a disability, it is crucial to provide effective IPV support. The competence and expertise of service providers regarding IPV significantly influence their ability to provide adequate IPV support. Understanding service providers' self-perceived competence is essential for improving the quality of IPV support for women with disabilities.

Objective: This study assesses the self-perceived competence of service providers in supporting women with disabilities subjected to IPV in Sweden.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to professionals in healthcare, social services, and the police, and 1,151 people participated. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were performed to assess the factors influencing service providers' self-perceived competence.

Results: The findings indicate that healthcare, police, and social services professionals often encounter women with disabilities, but they rarely ask them directly about IPV. Many don't routinely inquire about IPV exposure. While institutional routines for addressing IPV exist, service providers don't consistently implement or use them. Key factors influencing self-perceived competence include receiving IPV and disability-specific training and sufficient employer support for addressing IPV among women with disabilities.

Conclusions: The findings underscore the need for a more consistent application of routines and enhanced training to strengthen the capacity of service providers to support women with disabilities subjected to IPV.

Objective: Parents have a key role regarding young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, thus their perceptions go a long way towards promoting or discouraging young people from using such services. Research has revealed that immigrant young people in Sweden access these essential services to a lesser extent than their native peers, and that they perceive their parents as unsupportive of such visits. This pilot study’s objective was to explore immigrant parents’ perceptions and experiences of the sexual and reproductive health services provided by Swedish youth clinics.

Results: Two categories were developed from the data analysis: (i) Youth clinics are well-known (to some) and appreciated (to a certain extent), and (ii) Parents feel left out from youth clinics and that the clinics have taken over parental responsibility. This study presents an ambivalent scenario connected to immigrant parents’ experiences and perceptions of having neither a space nor a voice within the existing youth clinic model. Parents expressed the desire for the youth clinics to recognise their cultural backgrounds, norms, and beliefs while providing sexual and reproductive health services to their children.