Qualitative research in four Member States

• Author: European Institute for Gender Equality (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 33-54

3. Qualitative research in four Member States

33Intimate partner violence and witness intervention: what are the deciding factors?

3. Qualitative research in four Member

States

(31) Mentioned by 18 professionals in all Member States: three local/national authority, 10 support service, ve police/prosecution.

(32) Mentioned by one professional in Germany: police.

(33) Mentioned by one professional in France: support service.

(34) Mentioned by 12 professionals in all Member States: four police/prosecution, six support organisation, two local/national authority and one witness.

(35) Mentioned by two professionals in France: support organisations.

(36) Mentioned by two professionals in France and Germany: one police, one service.

(37) Mentioned by eight professionals in Denmark, Germany and France: two police/prosecution, one local/national authority, ve support service.

(38) Mentioned by one professional in Germany: support organisation.

This chapter draws on the in-depth qualitative

research in four Member States  Denmark, Ger-

many, France and Portugal  to explore factors (ena-

blers and barriers) that affect witnesses support

of victims of intimate partner violence (including

reporting intimate partner violence to the author-

ities) and the environments in which this occurs.

The findings presented below are based on

20 interviews with witnesses who have reported

intimate partner violence, 30 interviews with

professionals who work with witnesses, and

12 focus groups with members of the general

public (three focus groups in each Member State).

For further information about the methodology

for the qualitative research, see the annex.

3.1. Environments in which

witnesses report intimate

partner violence

Friends and family members are viewed as a

key group for witnesses supporting victims

of intimate partner violence (although family

members may face particular barriers), as are

neighbours and others in the local community.

Co-workers are generally viewed as less likely

to intervene (including by reporting intimate

partner violence to the authorities) than friends,

family members and neighbours. For workers

in healthcare and social-care settings, reporting

intimate partner violence to the authorities is

shaped by professional obligations.

Friends and family are often witness to inti-

mate partner violence and do report it to

the authorities (31); in Portugal, this group is

identified as the most likely to repor t. However,

family members may face particular barriers to

reporting intimate partner violence. They may be

deterred from reporting by feelings of embar-

rassment or shame (reported by professionals

in Germany) (32) or because the victim hides the

violence from family members (reported by pro-

fessionals in France) (33).

The neighbourhood is also identified as an

important reporting environment (34), particu-

larly in Denmark and Germany. In France, some

professionals observe that neighbours repor t inti-

mate partner violence less commonly than friends

and family members (35). Neighbours tend to lack

close emotional ties to the victim and are moti-

vated by factors such as a desire to reduce noise

as well as an instinct to help the victim, whereas for

friends and family members the desire to help and

protect the vic tim is paramount (36).

Co-workers are generally viewed as les s likely

to intervene (including by reporting the vio-

lence to the authorities) than friends, family

members and neighbours (37). This is sometimes

attributed to co-workers having a less close rela-

tionship to the victim (38).

For workers in healthcare and social-care

settings, reporting is shaped by professional

obligations, which differ across Member States.

In Denmark, there are s trict reporting require-

ments when children are involved, so profession-

als in the social care and educational system are

3. Qualitative research in four Member States

European Institute for Gender Equality34

more likely to notify the relevant authorities than

professionals in healthcare (39).

3.2. Factors that enable

witnesses to support

victims of intimate

partner violence

3.2.1. Victim cooperation and consent

The cooperation and consent of the victim

is a key factor enabling witness support, as

discussed by professionals, witnesses and

focus-group participants in Denmark, France,

Germany and Portugal. Conversely, the

absence of victim cooperation and consent is

a barrier to witness intervention. This factor is

identified as particularly important in relation

to the friendship and family environment.

A k ey asp ec t for wi tn es se s i n re la ti on to t he fr ie nd -

ship and family environment is the victims con-

sent and agreement. This was mentioned in the

interviews with witnesses and professionals and

was discussed in focus groups conducted across

Denmark, France, Germany and Portugal (40).

A lack of victim cooperation and consent was con-

sidered a barrier to witness support (particularly in

reporting to the authorities). Some professionals

observed that friends and family members do not

tend to report intimate par tner violence (whether

to the police or support organisations) unless the

victim has given explicit agreement, or commented

that they would advise against doing so (41):

‘It does not actually happen that someone

from family or friends reports it [intimate

partner violence] if the victim does not

(39) Mentioned by two professionals in Denmark: one police and one support service.

(40) Mentioned by 13 professionals and nine witnesses from across all four Member States. Mentioned by 17 focus-group participants from across all four

Member States.

(41) Mentioned by four professionals in Germany and France: one local/national authority and three support service.

(42) Mentioned by one male witness in Germany.

(43) Mentioned by two male focus-group participants.

(44) Mentioned by three female focus-group participants.

(45) Mentioned by one professional in Portugal: support service.

(46) Mentioned by one female witness in Portugal.

(47) Mentioned by three witnesses in Denmark and Germany: two women and one man; and by 11 focus-group participants in Germany, France and Portugal:

four men and seven women.

(48) Mentioned by eight focus-group participants in France and Portugal: ve women and three men.

(49) Mentioned by ve focus-group participants in France and Portugal: three women and two men.

agree (local/national authority profes-

sional, Germany)’.

One focus-group participant in Germany com-

mented that they would go the police, but only

with the friend (in the friendship scenario) and

not against that per sons will (42). This sentiment

was also expressed by focus-group participants

in France (43):

‘I would not do it [report it to the author-

ities] if … [the victim] didn’t want it. Not

against her will (male focus-group partici-

pant, Germany)’.

In Denmark, focus-group participants discussed

how no one should push a friend too hard to

report intimate partner violence (44). In Por tugal,

one professional (45) and one witness (46) stated

that friends and family members do not repor t inti-

mate partner v iolence without the victim s consent

because they may feel emotionally weary, hurt

and betrayed by the victims previous (unfulfilled)

promises to report incidents.

The importance of securing the cooperation and

consent of the vic tim was not as strong in the

neighbourhood and local community environment.

While it was mentioned by several focus- group par-

ticipants, it was only brought up by a few witnesses

and not by any professionals in interviews (47).

Several participants said they would be more

inclined to intervene if the victim came to them

and asked for help or gave consent for the case

to be r epo rt ed to the author it ies (48), who are per-

ceived to be unlikely to investigate the case with-

out the victims involvement (49):

‘The police may say, ‘No, listen, you’re not

the person involved subjected to this vio -

lence. The person ought to come and see