Strengthening the service experiences of women impacted by gambling-related intimate partner violence

Towards a conceptual framework for the prevention of gambling-related harms: Findings from a scoping review

The global gambling sector has grown significantly over recent years due to liberal deregulation and digital transformation. Likewise, concerns around gambling-related harms-experienced by individuals, their families, their local communities or societies-have also developed, with growing calls that they should be addressed by a public health approach. A public health approach towards gambling-related harms requires a multifaceted strategy, comprising initiatives promoting health protection, harm minimization and health surveillance across different strata of society. However, there is little research exploring how a public health approach to gambling-related harms can learn from similar approaches to other potentially harmful but legal sectors such as the alcohol sector, the tobacco sector, and the high in fat, salt and sugar product sector. Therefore, this paper presents a conceptual framework that was developed following a scoping review of public health approaches towards the above sectors. Specifically, we synthesize strategies from each sector to develop an overarching set of public health goals and strategies which-when interlinked and incorporated with a socio-ecological model-can be deployed by a range of stakeholders, including academics and treatment providers, to minimise gambling-related harms. We demonstrate the significance of the conceptual framework by highlighting its use in mapping initiatives as well as unifying stakeholders towards the minimization of gambling-related harms, and the protection of communities and societies alike.

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Young Men's Gambling and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration in Mwanza, Tanzania

Objectives: The prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Tanzania is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. There are very few studies on the co-occurrence of gambling and IPV and none from LMICs, despite gambling being a behaviour associated with gender norms exalting masculinity underlying IPV perpetration. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data of 755 currently partnered men aged 18-24 from Mwanza, Tanzania were analysed to investigate whether gambling was associated with past-year physical, sexual, emotional and economic IPV. We conducted bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions to control for potential confounders, based on their significant association bivariately with the main outcome variables. Results: Of the men who gambled, 18 percent perpetrated physical IPV, 39 percent sexual IPV, 60 percent emotional IPV and 39 percent economic IPV. Gambling was significantly associated with sexual (aOR: 2.59; 95% CI: 1.70-3.97), emotional (aOR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.12-2.14) and economic IPV (aOR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.02-1.88) after controlling for confounders. Conclusion: The analysis shows that gambling is associated with IPV perpetration. More research is needed to understand how current IPV prevention efforts can be expanded to include problem gambling treatment.

Intimate partner violence linked to gambling: cohort and period effects on the past experiences of older women

BACKGROUND

Problem gambling increases the risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). People impacted by gambling-related IPV face distinctive challenges, and these may be compounded by intersections with gender, generational influences and contextual factors. This study explored the past experiences of older women affected by male partner violence linked to gambling, and how these were shaped by cohort and period effects and problem gambling. Cohort effects are the generational characteristics of a group born at a particular time, while period effects relate to prevailing external conditions at the time of the abuse, including laws, services and practices.

METHODS

A larger study exploring the nature of the relationship between problem gambling and IPV recruited 72 women through help services and advertising. The current study analysed a subset of interviews with 22 women aged 50 years or over. We analysed the data using adaptive grounded theory to explore the intersection between IPV, gambling, and cohort and period effects.

RESULTS

Cohort effects on the women's experiences of IPV included gendered attitudes, traditional views of marriage, silence surrounding IPV, reticence to disclose the abuse, and little understanding of problem gambling. These influences deterred women from questioning their partner's gambling, and to instead keep the gambling and abuse hidden. Many women did not recognise abuse linked to gambling as IPV, since gambling was considered a normal, harmless pastime. Having a gambling problem exacerbated violence and coercive control by male partners as traditional gender norms supported male authority over their female partner. Women with a gambling problem sometimes felt they deserved the abuse. Period effects included a lack of IPV and gambling services, gendered service responses, failure to prioritise the women's safety, and no consideration by services of the role of gambling in the abuse.

CONCLUSION

Reducing gender inequality is critical to reduce male partner violence towards women. Women impacted by gambling-related IPV, including the legacy of past abuse, need service responses that recognise all forms of abuse, understand the historical and contextual factors that exacerbate it, and recognise how gambling can amplify IPV. A reduction in problem gambling is needed to reduce gambling-related IPV.

An integrative review of research on gambling and domestic and family violence: Fresh perspectives to guide future research

This paper presents an integrative review of research on domestic and family violence (DFV), including intimate partner violence (IPV), experienced by victims and perpetrators with a gambling problem. It aims to review, critique, and synthesize research on this topic to generate fresh and alternative perspectives to guide future research. Based on a systematic search of the academic literature and a targeted search of gray literature, the paper summarizes findings from empirical studies pertaining to the prevalence of perpetration and victimization, characteristics of perpetrators and victims, and explanations for this violence. Based on this review, the paper suggests several potential improvements that can be considered in future studies. These include a shift from focusing on situational violence to also include coercive control; greater sensitivity in research design and interpretation to gender differences in experiences of violence; and the need to include economic abuse as a form of DFV/IPV. Adopting a public health lens is also recommended to broaden the research focus from victims and perpetrators to also consider contextual factors. In particular, gambling research should examine the contribution of gambling products, practices, environments, and marketing to DFV/IPV and how this might be ameliorated. While research to date has drawn much needed attention to the risks that gambling presents for DFV/IPV, this review provides some suggestions for future research so that it can provide more nuanced findings to inform policy and practice.