Violence against women
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Violence against women · Mar 2006
Intimate partner violence and women's depression before and during pregnancy.
Depressive symptoms of 95 prenatal care patients were examined relative to the women's experiences of intimate partner violence. Women who were victims of psychological aggression during the year before pregnancy were not at elevated risk for depression except when the psychological aggression was very frequent. However, during pregnancy, psychological aggression was more closely tied to women's depression levels, regardless of its frequency. In addition, women who experienced any level of physical assault or sexual coercion by their intimate partners (before or during pregnancy) had higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to nonvictims.
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Violence against women · Feb 2006
Violence against American Indian Women and the Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors Violence Against Indian Women (STOP VAIW) program.
When Congress appropriated funds to develop ways to reduce violence against American Indian women, tribal elders faced a challenging task: find ways to cooperate with various tribal and nontribal criminal justice agencies and navigate the maze of law enforcement authority. An evaluative study was conducted of these programs and the different approaches used to help keep women safe by American Indian tribal governments. This study found that the tribes rose to the challenge; the money was making a difference. The grants to stop violence against Indian women have made a significant impact in the 134 native communities that received awards.
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Violence against women · Nov 2005
The Framing Safety Project: photographs and narratives by battered women.
This article describes the Framing Safety Project that the author developed to do collaborative, community action/education research with battered women about the meaning of safety in their lives. The project is built on the use of participant-generated photographs and photo-elicitation interviews as methods for exploring with women, in support group settings, the meanings of violence in their lives and their approaches to creating safer spaces. Although visual sociologists have used variations of these methods, particularly to study the experiences of children, the author combines them in a uniquely feminist approach that leads from the women's photography and interviews to a community education and action component. The author describes the process of developing and implementing this project with Mexican and South Asian immigrant women and discusses the ways in which its methodological approach serves to amplify the voices of silenced women, and to offer opportunities for community education and social action.
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Violence against women · Jun 2005
Training police officers on domestic violence and racism: challenges and strategies.
Teaching about domestic violence and racism is a formidable task that requires the inclusion of material that challenges dominant ideologies about race and gender. A recent training for police officers about domestic violence and racism serves as a good example of how challenging the task can be. Drawing from this 1-day police training, from existing pedagogical literature, and from the authors' collective experiences teaching about these issues, the authors address challenges encountered and propose strategies to mitigate them. The authors propose a multilevel approach to implementing strategies to address these challenges, which includes ongoing involvement during three stages of the training.