Communicating Reproductive Coercion in the Context of Domestic and Family Violence: Perspectives of Service Providers Supporting Migrant and Refugee Women

The current study explored the language barriers to help-seeking in the context of reproductive coercion and abuse (RCA), domestic and family violence (DFV), and sexual violence (SV), drawing on observations by key informants supporting women from migrant and refugee communities. A lack of shared language has been identified as a key barrier to help seeking for migrant and refugee women experiencing DFV more broadly, though how language intersects with help seeking in the context of RCA is yet to be investigated. We conducted 6 focus groups with 38 lawyers, counsellors, and social workers supporting women experiencing DFV in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia. Our findings address two main areas. First, consistent with past research in DFV, our participants identified language as a barrier for women when communicating about sexual and reproductive issues in the context of health and police encounters. More specifically, our findings suggest that the inability of health professionals and police to communicate with women who have low or no English proficiency not only negatively impacted victims/survivors’ ability to access support, but also facilitated the perpetration of RCA. We conclude that language can be a mechanism through which coercive control is enacted by perpetrators of RCA and health and policing systems may not be equipped to recognise and address this issue. We also suggest that greater conceptual clarity of RCA is needed within the DFV sector in order to tailor responses.

MALTRATO INFANTIL Y TRASTORNOS CLÍNICOS POST-VIOLENCIA EN NIÑOS MENORES DE CINCO AÑOS

Introducción: El maltrato infantil (MI), se ha convertido en un problema de salud pública que impregna todos los sectores sociales y cuyo impacto resulta devastador no solamente durante su infancia, sino a lo largo de toda su vida. Objetivo: Describir el maltrato infantil y trastornos clínicos post-violencia en niños menores de cinco años. Métodos: A documentary research was carried out in databases such as SciElo, Pubmed, Google Scholar and, LATINDEX, using the descriptors: child abuse, child abuse, family relationships, family violence, published in the period 2010-2021, in languages English, Spanish and Portuguese. Resultados: Se considera que, el maltrato infligido en los primeros cinco años de la vida del menor, repercute en el desarrollo neurobiológico y psicológico, el cual tiende a ser más rápido que en los años siguientes de las etapas del desarrollo. El maltrato infantil, no solo consiste en la presencia de hematomas, quemaduras, traumas craneales, la negligencia y la desnutrición. Se asume el maltrato infantil como todo aquel daño emocional que acompaña a los actos abusivos o negligentes que se traducen como trastorno de estrés agudo y el trastorno de estrés postraumático, con su repercusión a largo plazo. Conclusiones: El maltrato infantil puede afectar el exitoso desarrollo del niño no sólo en un determinado período de desarrollo, sino a lo largo de toda su vida. Un equipo multidisciplinario, que ejecute estrategias de prevención, la necesidad inclusión de todos los países en esta lucha y entender que la prevención es la única salida Palabras claves: maltrato a los niños, abuso de los niños, relaciones familiares, violencia familiar ABSTRACT Introduction: Child abuse (MI) has become a public health problem that permeates all social sectors and whose impact is devastating not only during childhood, but throughout their entire lives. Objective: To describe child abuse and post-violence clinical disorders in children under five years of age. Methods: A documentary investigation was carried out. Through the search for scientific articles, in databases such as SciElo, Pubmed, Google Scholar and, LATINDEX, using the descriptors: child abuse, child abuse, family relationships, family violence. With inclusion criteria: full articles, in national and international journals and organizations such as WHO, PAHO, published in the period 2010-2021, in English, Spanish and Portuguese languages. Results: It is considered that the abuse inflicted in the first five years of the child's life affects the neurobiological and psychological development, which tends to be faster than in the following years of the development stages. Child abuse not only consists of bruises, burns, head trauma, neglect and malnutrition. Child abuse is assumed as all the emotional damage that accompanies abusive or negligent acts that translate as acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, with its long-term repercussions. Conclusions: Child abuse can affect the successful development of the child not only in a certain period of development, but throughout their entire life. A multidisciplinary team, which executes prevention strategies, the need to include all countries in this fight, and understands that prevention is the only way out Keywords: child abuse, child abuse, family relationships, family violence

Can Emerging Adults’ Dating Psychological Aggression be Explained by Family-of-Origin Psychological Aggression, Emotion Dysregulation, and Drinking?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts the lives of millions of individuals; nearly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men report experiencing IPV during their lifetime. Previous studies frequently cite family-of-origin aggression as a risk factor for later experiences with IPV. Research with adults who engage in IPV finds an association with childhood exposure to family violence, but the strength of that association may vary. Psychological aggression often pre-dates more severe IPV and college students are a particular risk group for IPV. Additionally, previous literature has revealed gender differences in response to childhood experiences of family violence. As such, the current study sought to identify factors that explain and moderate risk for dating psychological aggression (DPA) in college adults, and sex differences in those associations. Participants (464 women, 142 men), who were in a current romantic relationship lasting at least 3 months, completed measures of past psychological aggression in the family-of-origin (PAF), current emotion dysregulation, risky drinking, and DPA perpetrated in current dating relationships. Emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between PAF and current DPA; however, differences among specific types of PAF and sex were noted. Results support an intergenerational transmission of PAF and suggest that parent–child sex dyads influence this process. The findings also provide evidence that higher levels of drinking are associated with increased emotion dysregulation. These results contrast with the alcohol expectancy for stress relief and support public messaging that alcohol use does not relieve stress. Clinical and research implications for prevention of the intergenerational transmission of aggression are discussed.