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Domestic violence in pregnancy is a significant health concern for women around the world. Globally, much has been written about how the health sector can respond effectively and comprehensively to domestic violence during pregnancy via antenatal services. The evidence from low-income settings is, however, limited. Sri Lanka is internationally acknowledged as a model amongst low-income countries for its maternal and child health statistics. Yet, very little research has considered the perspectives and experiences of the key front line health providers for pregnant women in Sri Lanka, public health midwives (PHMs). We address this gap by consulting PHMs about their experiences identifying and responding to pregnant women affected by domestic violence in an underserved area: the tea estate sector of Badulla district. Over two months in late 2014, our interdisciplinary team of social scientists and medical doctors met with 31 estate PHMs for group interviews and a participatory workshop at health clinics across Badulla district. In the paper, we propose a modified livelihoods model to conceptualise the physical, social and symbolic assets, strategies and constraints that simultaneously enable and limit the effectiveness of community-based health care responses to domestic violence. Our findings also highlight conceptual and practical strategies identified by PHMs to ensure improvements in this complex landscape of care. Such strategies include estate-based counselling services; basic training in family counselling and mediation for PHMs; greater surveillance of abusive men's behaviours by male community leaders; and performance evaluation and incentives for work undertaken to respond to domestic violence. The study contributes to international discussions on the meanings, frameworks, and identities constructed at the local levels of health care delivery in the global challenge to end domestic violence. In turn, such knowledge adds to international debates on the roles and responsibilities of health care professionals in responding to and preventing domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 towards women victims of IPV is a barrier for the recovery and liberation process of violence. • Certain societal norms and perceptions were associated with stigmatizing responses. • Nondisclosure of violence and not seeking help were the most studied consequences of stigma. • Future research should continue to explore the factors involved in stigmatization and the associations between them. • Efforts to combat public stigma should be made, for which the recommendations in this review may be useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]