"I Have to Make Sure She Is Not Sad": Children's Perceptions of Their Mothers' Experiences in Shelters for Battered

Anat Vass1, Muhammad M Haj-Yahia2

  • 1School of Social Work, McGill university, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Violence Against Women
|March 13, 2023
PubMed

A qualitative study examined children's subjective perception of their mother's situation during their stay in shelters for battered women (SBW). Thirty-two children, aged 7-12 years, who were staying with their mothers in SBWs participated in this study. Thematic analysis revealed the following two core themes: children's perceptions and insights, and feelings that were related to their perceptions. The findings are discussed in light of the concepts of exposure to IPV as a lived trauma, and re-exposure to violence in new contexts, and the role of the relationship with the abused mother in shaping the child's well-being.

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