Screening for coercive control with refugee women accessing settlement services.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Criminology

Background:

• Coercive control is increasingly recognized as a significant form of intimate partner violence (IPV).
• Refugee women resettling in new countries face heightened vulnerability to controlling behaviors within intimate relationships.
• Effective identification of controlling behaviors is crucial for facilitating help-seeking among refugee women and preventing further violence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a culturally tailored intimate partner violence (IPV) screening and response strategy for refugee women.
• To identify controlling behaviors as a prevalent form of IPV among refugee women accessing settlement services.
• To enhance the capacity of settlement service caseworkers to recognize and address coercive control.

Main Methods:

• The Safety and Health After Arrival (SAHAR) study implemented a culturally adapted IPV screening and response strategy.
• Refugee women accessing Australian settlement services were screened using the ACTS tool, which assesses controlling behaviors, fear, threats, and physical abuse.
• Qualitative data were gathered through consultations with a lived experience panel, service providers, focus groups, and manager interviews.

Main Results:

• Out of 312 women screened, 90 (29%) reported indicators of IPV, with controlling behavior being the most common form (78/90).
• Settlement service caseworkers successfully identified harmful controlling behaviors after accounting for language and cultural nuances.
• Screening prompted conversations about control and increased awareness of non-physical coercion among caseworkers and women.

Conclusions:

• Enquiring about controlling behavior among refugee women accessing settlement services is feasible, even with linguistic and cultural differences.
• Culturally tailored screening tools can effectively identify coercive control and other forms of IPV in this population.
• The study supports the integration of IPV screening into settlement services to better support refugee women's safety and well-being.