Women who experience Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) are nearly twice as likely to suffer mental health disorders and only around 22 per cent felt fully recovered after a decade, according to a new study from Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) and University of Newcastle.
Researchers make clear that recovering from IPV– defined as physical, sexual and psychological abuse– is the ultimate goal for survivors. However, the study notes that recovery potential is still unclear, which is why more research and measurement tools for IPV outcomes is so critical.
“What we wanted to find out with this study was how long does recovery take?” says study author and PhD researcher Mary Jean Carman. “Is hope a factor in recovery or is time a more significant factor? And does the age of the person, and the length of time that they experienced abuse, impact their ability to recover?”
To try to answer these questions, researchers conducted an anonymous online survey of 665 people with lived experience of IPV.
Participants were women, aged between 18 and 65 years, who had left an abusive relationship more than two years ago, and the survey tried to determine how they were coping and find out if recovery was possible.
About 45 per cent of Australian women will experience a mental health disorder during their lifetime, but the women surveyed in this study reported 1.8 times the national prevalence.
The survey also showed that 90 per cent of participants had accessed medical, housing, employment and charity support services– the same proportion reported enduring abuse for more than two years.
Of these 90 per cent of women, half of them had experienced abuse for up to 10 years and the other half had endured abuse for more than 10 years.
PhD supervisor, Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin said: “Globally, it is accepted that approximately one in three women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime and yet current interventions have done little to reduce that number.”
Referencing the importance of the study, Kay-Lambkin added that more knowledge about the nature of IPV recovery is needed in order to establish more effective solutions.