Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is a major problem in the United States, with estimates that 3 percent to 17 percent of women experience violence during the perinatal period. Research indicates that IPV during pregnancy is associated with serious, negative health outcomes for the mother and her unborn child. As such, many…

The prevalence of traumatic stress in the lives of families who are homeless is extraordinarily high. Often these families are headed by single mothers who have experienced ongoing trauma in the form of childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and community violence, as well as the trauma associated with poverty and the loss of home,…

Although most social work professionals may expect that women who experience partner violence will sustain acute physical injuries, social workers may be less knowledgeable about the chronic health problems with which violence survivors often struggle. To inform social work practice, we reviewed and synthesized the recently published research on…

Only approximately one-half of the 456 women who were killed or almost killed by a husband, boyfriend, or ex-husband or ex-boyfriend in a recent national study of homicide of women accurately perceived their risk of being killed by their abusive partner. Women are unlikely to overestimate their risk; however, many will underestimate the severity…

Two studies were conducted to test a theoretical model of the psychological and communicative links that mediate the impact of the chilling effect on the continued concealment of secrets in families. More specifically, we argued that individuals' continued concealment of a secret from aggressive family members would be mediated by the desire for…

The legal status of women's intimate relationships may allow for different experiences with intimate partner violence (IPV) and the protections received from the criminal justice system. There has been limited research examining differences in IPV and protective orders for women in marital and cohabiting intimate relationships. This study examines…

This report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child contains observations of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) concerning the application of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child by the nation of South Africa. Noting that the Convention is the only "mainstream" human rights instrument that…