#MeToo on the Canadian Prairies: Raising Awareness of Sexual Assaults and Mental Health in Women Abused by Intimate Partners

"Your Skin Crawled Every Time He Touched You": A Secondary Qualitative Analysis Exploring Bagwell-Gray's Taxonomy of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence

Bagwell-Gray et al. developed a taxonomy of intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) focusing on type of force (physical or nonphysical) and type of sexual activity (penetration or no penetration). The current secondary descriptive qualitative analysis of interviews with 89 Canadian women IPV victims assessed IPSV that fit Bagwell-Gray's taxonomy. About half (46 or 51.7%) described sexual violence, most commonly sexual abuse (26 or 29.2%), sexual assaults (17 or 19%), and sexual coercion (16 or 17.9%), with overlap across categories. Forced sexual activity was seldom mentioned (3 or 3.4%). Implications for service providers and researchers are provided.

"He Tells People That I Am Going to Kill My Children": Post-Separation Coercive Control in Men Who Perpetrate IPV

Relatively little research has examined men's use of coercive controlling tactics against female partners after separation. This mixed-methods secondary analysis of 346 Canadian women documented coercive controlling tactics used by their ex-partners (86.4% identified at least one). The composite abuse scale emotional abuse subscale and women being older were associated with men using coercive control tactics post-separation. A secondary qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with a sub-sample of 34 women provided additional examples. Abusive partners used numerous strategies to coercively control their ex-partners by stalking/harassing them, using financial abuse and discrediting the women to various authorities. Considerations for future research are presented.

My Parents, My Grandparents Went Through Residential School, and All this Abuse has Come From it: Examining Intimate Partner Violence Against Canadian Indigenous Women in the Context of Colonialism

While the global rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) for Indigenous women have been acknowledged as substantial, few studies have incorporated an analysis of the impacts of colonization in the context of IPV. This secondary mixed-methods analysis explored the experiences of 40 Indigenous women from the Canadian prairie provinces who were abused by their intimate partners. The women discussed the impact of colonization, including the use of residential schools, to break down family life, spiritual beliefs, and languages, at times linking this to IPV. Of the 40 women, 38 described male partners as the abusers and two identified female abusive partners. Consistent with the literature, many of the male partners physically assaulted the respondents so severely that the women were injured and were at risk of death. Almost half of the men (47.4%) used sexually coercive strategies and/or sexually assaulted the women. Implications include the importance of professionals considering the broader historical experiences and possible trauma of Indigenous women who seek assistance for IPV from abusive partners.

Social and structural barriers and facilitators to HIV healthcare and harm reduction services for people experiencing syndemics in Manitoba: study protocol

INTRODUCTION

In Manitoba, Canada, there has been an increase in the number of people newly diagnosed with HIV and those not returning for regular HIV care. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased sex and gender disparities in disease risk and mortalities, decreased harm reduction services and reduced access to healthcare. These health crises intersect with increased drug use and drug poisoning deaths, houselessness and other structural and social factors most acutely among historically underserved groups. We aim to explore the social and structural barriers and facilitators to HIV care and harm reduction services experienced by people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Manitoba.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Our study draws on participatory action research design. Guiding the methodological design are the lived experiences of PLHIV. In-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews and quantitative questionnaires will be conducted with two groups: (1) persons aged ≥18 years living or newly diagnosed with HIV and (2) service providers who work with PLHIV. Data collection will include sex, gender, sociodemographic information, income and housing, experiences with the criminal justice system, sexual practices, substance use practices and harm reduction access, experiences with violence and support, HIV care journey (since diagnosis until present), childhood trauma and a decision-making questionnaire. Data will be analysed intersectionally, employing grounded theory for thematic analysis, sex-based and gender-based analysis and social determinants of health and syndemic framework to understand the experiences of PLHIV in Manitoba.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

We received approval from the University of Manitoba Health Ethics Research Board (HS25572; H2022:218), First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, Nine Circles Community Health Centre, Shared Health Manitoba (SH2022:194) and 7th Street Health Access Centre. Findings will be disseminated using community-focused knowledge translation strategies identified by participants, peers, community members and organisations, and reported in conferences, peer-reviewed journals and a website (www.alltogether4ideas.org).