Swedish study finds abuse victims stay silent until formally interviewed
Researchers interviewing teenage girls in Swedish residential care homes discovered most had never disclosed intimate partner violence to anyone—revealing a critical gap in how institutions detect and respond to abuse. The finding suggests current safeguarding protocols may systematically miss the most vulnerable youth, with major implications for care standards and intervention training.
Originaltitel: “No Story, No Response”: Narratives from Girls Subjected to Youth Intimate Partner Violence and Placed at Special Residential Homes in Sweden
<p>Several studies have suggested a high prevalence of violence inyoung people’s romantic relationships. A significant gap in knowl-edge persists, however, regarding how young people in specialresidential homes for youth (SRHY) in Sweden characterize andcommunicate about the violence they experience in their relation-ships, as well as how they describe societal responses to suchviolence within their networks, including from professionals. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with girls from threedifferent SRHYs using Hydén’s “teller-focused” approach. Responses varied based on the girls’ personal networks and pro-fessional connections. A common denominator, however, is thatthe girls had disclosed the violence, described as exceptionallysevere, to any external person to only a limited extent. Many ofthem shared their experiences of victimization for the first timeduring the interview, prompting a reconsideration and clarificationof the relational aspects of the interview procedure and resulting inthe conceptualization of a new interview procedure: the relationalinterview approach. This approach has implications for the practi-calities of engaging in a conversation with a young person who hasexperienced violence.</p>