Intimate partner violence in rural Ireland

: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of women’s experiences

Abstract

Despite the extensive body of literature on women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV), comparatively little research has focused on IPV in rural environments, and no study has explored women’s IPV experiences in rural Ireland. Addressing this gap in Irish IPV literature will aid the development of more context-appropriate responses to IPV in Ireland and enable more effective and individualised service provision for those working in the area. This study examines the lived experiences of four women who experienced IPV while living in rural Ireland, using unstructured interviews, analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four group experiential themes were identified, encompassing women’s experiences of and in response to abuse within their relationships, experiences of isolation and rejection, the complexity of escaping, and encounters with systems and services following escape. This study's significant findings, as reported by the participants, emphasise the severe and widespread nature of IPV in rural Ireland, describe the impact of family and social responses on women, highlight the distinction between physical and psychological escape, and underscore the potential for systems to perpetuate and replicate aspects of abusive relationships. It is argued that the consequences of IPV permeate several aspects of women’s lives, during the relationship, throughout the process of escaping and following escape. This study highlights that IPV needs to be tackled at an individual, community, cultural, societal, and political level and the unique needs of rural communities should be considered. Further implications of these findings for counselling psychology, practice, and policy are discussed and limitations and suggestions for further research are identified.

Date of Award	21 Jan 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Roehampton
Supervisor	Savin Bapir-Tardy (Director of Studies) & Georgia Kougiali (Co-Supervisor)