Citation

De Anstiss H. Aust. Psychol. 2023; 58(1): 6-17.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Australian Psychological Society, Publisher Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1080/00050067.2022.2110855

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Adolescents are reported to be the fastest growing population at risk for intimate partner violence, and yet very few seek help, and those who do are more likely to turn to friends and family before, if at all, professional sources such as the police, mental health practitioners, social workers, health professionals and teachers. Research on refugee-background adolescents is scant despite their growing presence in migration flows to Australia and other western resettlement countries. This article reports on a qualitative investigation of help-seeking among young women from refugee backgrounds who had experienced partner violence during adolescence.

METHOD Interview and focus group data were obtained from 17 cisgender young women and five helping professionals.

RESULTS Very few participants voluntarily sought professional help during or after a violent relationship due to a range of individual, interpersonal and sociocultural influences.

CONCLUSIONS Prevention and intervention efforts should be anchored in a nuanced understanding of the contexts of partner violence for this population group as well as sensitivity to how disclosure and help-seeking may be influenced by age and developmental stage, cultural background, acculturation, and access to support services.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescents; girls; help-seeking; partner violence; Refugee; service utilisation