Public stigma toward women victims of intimate partner violence: a systematic review

Abstract

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.