STop intimate partner viOlence in Pregnancy

ended

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the most pervasive human rights abuses in the world and the most common form of domestic violence against women. Pregnancy offers a window of opportunity for prevention of IPV through antenatal care. The main objective of the STOP-project is to empower pregnant women exposed to IPV through a change in attitude and behaviour via an eHealth intervention. The work planned is the development and conduction of a systematic risk screening programme, a bespoke video counselling programme delivered by trained healthcare staff, and a feasibility study of the IPV intervention in antenatal care settings. The development of the eHealth intervention will identify and empower pregnant women exposed to IPV and support the women in avoiding future abuse. The project will provide screening for IPV of about 6000 pregnant women as part of their antenatal care and of these 300 families will be protected through the eHealth intervention. Further, the project produces guidelines and white papers for upscaling and dissemination of the project as well as producing approx. 40 midwives trained in combatting IPV. Today women exposed to IPV often needs to seek help on their own. The impact of the project is mainly the eHealth intervention which will help identify women exposed to IPV and provide counselling and safety planning to combat the abuse and empower these women. The intervention aids medical professionals in identify pregnant women in need of help through screening during antenatal care, which is an opportune moment to reach women exposed to IPV. As about 85% of the female population in a given country gets pregnant, over time this eHealth intervention has the potential to reach most women exposed to IPV. The impact on the target group – pregnant women – is prevention of further violence and a range of adverse effects on both the mother and her offspring, providing the women with a safer path through life.