title: Moving beyond disclosure: women's perspectives on barriers and motivators to seeking assistance for intimate partner violence.
abstract: To investigate women's perceptions of motivators and barriers to seeking help or accessing intimate partner violence (IPV), services six focus groups were conducted in rural and urban settings in North Carolina between June and August of 2002. Coding and theme analysis were used to summarize themes among the 67 focus group participants. The majority of participants were African-American (87%). Participants reported three main categories of motivators: gaining knowledge; reaching an emotional or physical breaking point; and growing concern about children's safety. Participants reported six main categories of barriers: pressure not to talk about, or address IPV; failure to recognize events as IPV, or that IPV was wrong; self-doubt and low self-esteem; fear of losses; fear of perpetrator; or desire to protect the perpetrator. This study documents the difficulties that women face accessing or using services related to IPV. We need to address perceived barriers and better use the opportunity when women experience motivation to seek help and access services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, USA. ruth_peterson@unc.edu
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Moracco
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Kathryn Andersen
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology*; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000592:standards; D009657:North Carolina; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014932:Women's Health Services