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Public stigma toward women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) undermines their recovery. However, research on this topic is still recent. This systematic review aimed to analyze the way this stigma was studied, findings from the literature related to or describing public stigmatization that contributed to understanding how it works and existing interventions and recommendations to combat stigma. Searches for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2021 were conducted in six databases. The articles selected were limited to empirical studies in English, in which participants resided in high-income countries and providing results on IPV public stigma. A total of 29 articles were included. Stigma was normally not the primary focus of the studies, most articles did not draw upon any stigma theoretical model to contextualize their findings and qualitative methodologies predominated. We summarized a series of themes regarding stigma functioning: social norms and perceptions, public stigmatizing reactions and its consequences for victims. Factors such as ethnicity increased or decreased the stigma. Not disclosing the abuse and not looking for help were the most frequently mentioned consequences. Only one intervention and a few strategies to reduce the stigma were identified. Implication of these findings for research and practice were discussed.

Public stigma toward women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) undermines their recovery. However, research on this topic is still recent. This systematic review aimed to analyze the way this stigma was studied, findings from the literature related to or describing public stigmatization that contributed to understanding how it works and existing interventions and recommendations to combat stigma. Searches for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2021 were conducted in six databases. The articles selected were limited to empirical studies in English, in which participants resided in high-income countries and providing results on IPV public stigma. A total of 29 articles were included. Stigma was normally not the primary focus of the studies, most articles did not draw upon any stigma theoretical model to contextualize their findings and qualitative methodologies predominated. We summarized a series of themes regarding stigma functioning: social norms and perceptions, public stigmatizing reactions and its consequences for victims. Factors such as ethnicity increased or decreased the stigma. Not disclosing the abuse and not looking for help were the most frequently mentioned consequences. Only one intervention and a few strategies to reduce the stigma were identified. Implication of these findings for research and practice were discussed.

The phenomenon of obstetric violence has been documented widely in maternity care settings worldwide, with scholars arguing that it is a persistent, common, but preventable impediment to attaining dignified health care. However, gaps remain in understanding local expressions of the phenomenon, associations with other types of violence against women, and implications for women's trust and confidence in health providers and services. We focused on these issues in this cross-sectional study of 1314 women in Sri Lanka's Colombo district. Specifically, in this study, we used Sinhalese and Tamil translations of the NorVold Abuse Questionnaire and the Abuse Assessment Screen to measure prevalence of women's experiences with obstetric violence in maternity care and lifetime and pregnancy-specific domestic violence. Then, the results were interpreted by considering the women's sociodemographic characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, and family income, to reveal previously undocumented associations between obstetric and domestic violence during pregnancy, as well as other factors associated with experiencing obstetric violence. We argue that obstetric violence is prevalent in government-sector (public) maternity care facilities in the Colombo district and is associated with young age, lower family income, non-majority ethnicity, and rural residency. Significantly, this study sheds light on a serious concern that has been underexamined, wherein women who report experiencing obstetric violence are also less likely to be asked by a health care provider about domestic violence experiences. Further research at the clinical level needs to focus on appropriate training and interventions to ensure women's safety and cultivate relationships between patients and health care providers characterized by trust, confidence, and respect.