Little eyes, little ears - Agence de la sante publique du Canada

little eyes,little earsThe need fordifferential response 2Interventions should ensuresafety and respect individualneeds and differencesIn devising an intervention strategy, service deliverersconsider the severity and frequency of violence, look forpower and control tactics, and ask about any other adverseexperiences affecting the children.Woman abuse is differentthan marital conflictWhile woman abuse can occur without physical assaults,relatively minor incidents such as slapping and pushing canoccur once or twice in relationships not otherwisecharacterized by coercive control tactics. 19The hallmark of woman abuseis coercive controlWoman abuse involves the ongoing, instrumental use ofcoercive control tactics against a woman by her partner tomeet his needs. Physical violence or the threat of it isoften present.The two are oftenconfused in researchThe boundaries between marital conflict and woman abusecan be blurred in general population surveys, minimizingthe true impact of woman abuse on adult victims and theirchildren. Also, symmetry between the rates of violencereported by men and women are likely to occur whensporadic violence within the context of marital conflict islumped together with the patterns of intimidation andthreat that characterize woman abuse.The type of interventionwill be differentCouple therapies appropriate for marital conflict areineffective for relationships characterized by woman abuseand may increase the risk faced by a woman and herchildren. Likewise, the reverse is true. Interventionsdesigned for male perpetrators of woman abuse are notappropriate to deal with marital conflict.Marital conflict is differentthan woman abuseMarital conflict may be part of an abusive relationship.However, marital conflict characterizes a substantialnumber of intimate relationships where one will not findwoman abuse.Judy Martin, John Langley & Jane Millichamp(2006). Domestic Violence as Witnessed byNew Zealand Children. New ZealandMedical Journal, 119: 1-14.32