Exposed to violence
PHD PROJECT. The dissertation Exposed to Violence, published in 2020, addresses experiences of assault and sexual abuse. It comprises four sub-studies that map different aspects of exposure to domestic violence and abuse among women and men in Sweden.
The first sub-study examines experiences of partner-related violence among female patients at the family planning clinic at Akademiska Hospital. In the study, 1,226 women aged 15 and older—both those seeking abortion care and those seeking contraceptive counseling—completed a questionnaire and were interviewed by staff about experiences of violence.
Among women seeking abortion care, 29 percent reported experiences of partner-related violence, compared with 22 percent of women seeking contraceptive counseling. Among women who had undergone repeated abortions, 51 percent reported experiences of partner-related violence.
Two of the dissertation’s studies are part of the population survey Violence and Health conducted by the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women (NCK) at Uppsala University and the Department of Social Work at Umeå University. The project involved a population survey in which 10,000 women and 10,000 men aged 18–74 were invited to complete a questionnaire on experiences of domestic violence and abuse.
The Population Study Violence and Health 2014
One aspect examined was the connection between girls’ and women’s exposure to psychological, physical, and sexual violence in childhood and exposure to sexual violence in adulthood. The findings indicate that there is a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence in adulthood if one has been subjected to any form of violence in childhood. The risk is greatest for those who have experienced sexual violence in combination with other types of violence.