title: The culture of pretence: a hidden barrier to recognising, disclosing and ending domestic violence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore in detail how women perceived their experience of domestic violence and leaving or ending the abuse. This research also examined how service providers identified their professional role in assisting women to end such relationships.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Domestic violence against women continues to occur internationally. Reliable statistics are difficult to capture because of inconsistent definitions, contradictory methods of acquiring data and unreported incidents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative study, undertaken in two phases, was conducted in Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve women who had experienced domestic violence and ended those relationships participated in one semistructured interview (Phase 1). Twenty-five professionals from health, social sciences and law, whose work included assisting women experiencing domestic violence, participated in three focus groups (Phase 2). Thematic analysis guided by a narrative inquiry approach forms the framework for information collection and interpretation of data in this project.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The barriers that impede women from disclosing abuse and taking action to end domestic violence are complex and varied between participants. Women did not always acknowledge or realise their relationship was precarious and often denied or minimised the abuse to cope with the domestic violence. Professionals identified that women did not always identify or acknowledge abuse inherent in their relationship although this delayed the provision of appropriate services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whether women disclose abuse or deny violence in their relationship, acceptance by service providers and the offer of support is crucial to assisting women in violent relationships.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is hoped that the findings may assist health practitioners, including nurses, to provide nonjudgemental support to women experiencing domestic violence whether women acknowledge the abusive relationship or not.
authors: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld, Australia.
authors: Lyn
authors: L
authors: Francis
authors: Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.|Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
authors: Deborah
authors: D
authors: Loxton
authors: ANU College of Law, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors: Colin
authors: C
authors: James
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003144:Communication Barriers; D030881:Disclosure; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D009736:Nursing Process; D011594:Psychometrics; D014932:Women's Health Services; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: culture of pretence; disclosure; domestic violence; ending; help seeking; leaving