Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: A Qualitative Exploration of UK Military Personnel and Civilian Partner Experiences

Help-seeking for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Experiences of Serving and Ex-serving UK Military Personnel

Purpose

Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA) is as a major health concern globally. The prevalence of IPVA perpetration and victimisation has been found to be higher in military compared to civilian populations. Of concern, help-seeking for other psychosocial difficulties among military communities has been shown to be both limited and challenging, and military personnel could face additional or amplified barriers to help-seeking for IPVA than their civilian counterparts. This study aimed to use qualitative methods to explore the experiences of, and barriers to, help-seeking for IPVA victimisation and perpetration among UK military personnel.

Methods

Thematic analysis was conducted on 40 one-to-one semi-structured interviews with military personnel (29 male, 11 female).

Results

Four superordinate themes were derived, thematically organised according to different levels of the social ecological model: Military cultural factors; Support service factors; Interpersonal factors; and Individual factors. At a military cultural level, participants described difficulties in help-seeking for IPVA resulting from widespread stigma and hypermasculine attitudes in military communities, minimisation of violence, perceived pressure from chain of command, and fear of consequences of reporting. At a support-service level, participants' negative views or experiences and lack of awareness of services were also significant in deterring help-seeking. At an interpersonal level, participants recounted how relationships with military colleagues, their partner and their family could be both instrumental or a hindrance to help-seeking for IPVA. At an individual level, lack of insight into IPVA and different forms of abuse were suggested through minimisation of violence and described to contribute to delay in help-seeking. Shame, compounded by multi-layered stigma present at each social ecological model level, was a key reason for delaying or avoiding help-seeking.

Conclusions

The findings indicate the added challenges in help-seeking for IPVA experienced by military personnel and highlight a need for a whole systems approach to improve the provision of support for IPVA in the military serving and ex-serving community to instil meaningful change.

Help-seeking for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: Experiences of Civilian Partners of UK Military Personnel

There is evidence that Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA) is more prevalent among military populations compared with civilian populations. However, there has been limited research into the help-seeking experiences of civilian victim-survivors who have experienced IPVA within relationships with military personnel. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of, and barriers to, help-seeking for IPVA victimisation among civilian partners of military personnel in order to identify strategies to improve the management of IPVA both within the military and civilian sectors. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design and used qualitative research methods. One-to-one telephone interviews were conducted with civilian victim-survivors (n = 25) between January and August 2018. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Three superordinate themes were derived: (1) Drivers to help-seeking; (2) Barriers to help-seeking; and (3) Experiences of services. The findings indicate difficulties in help-seeking for IPVA among civilian partners of military personnel due to stigma, fear, dependency, poor understanding of IPVA, lack of appropriate and timely support, and a perceived lack of victim support. Difficulties in help-seeking were perceived by participants to be amplified by military culture, public perceptions of the military, military protection of personnel and the lack of coordination between civilian and military judicial services. This study reinforces the need for a military specific Domestic Abuse strategy, identifies vulnerable groups and highlights a need for both increased awareness and understanding of IPVA within civilian and military services in order to provide adequate victim protection.