Intimate Partner Violence Dynamics and Interventions

Intimate partner violence (IPV) encompasses physical, sexual and psychological harm inflicted by a current or former partner and is shaped by the interplay of individual, relational, community and societal factors. At the individual level, a history of childhood exposure to violence, harmful alcohol use and limited education heighten risk, while inequitable gender norms and legal frameworks that disadvantage women perpetuate violence at the societal scale. Interactions between partners often follow a cycle of tension, incident, reconciliation and calm, reinforcing patterns of control and fear. Effective interventions span multiple tiers: primary prevention that challenges harmful norms before violence occurs; victim-support services offering safety planning and trauma-informed care; and policy reforms that strengthen legal protection, economic empowerment and access to justice. Recent research highlights the importance of coordinated programmes that integrate conflict resolution, gender-norm transformation, and community engagement. Globally, multisectoral partnerships between health, legal and social services show promise in reducing both the prevalence and severity of IPV, underscoring the need for context-sensitive approaches in low- and high-income settings alike.

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Intimate Partner Violence Dynamics and Interventions publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in intimate partner violence dynamics and interventions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Intimate partner violence (IPV): Physical, sexual or psychological harm by a current or former partner.

Primary prevention: Strategies designed to stop violence before it begins by addressing root causes and social norms.

Gender norms: Societal expectations about appropriate roles and behaviours for men and women.

Community mobilisation: Concerted efforts to engage and empower community members to challenge harmful practices and support change.

References

1. Interventions that prevent or respond to intimate partner violence against women and violence against children: a systematic review. The Lancet Public Health (2024).
2. Prevalence and changes of intimate partner violence against women aged 15 to 49 years in 53 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2021: a secondary analysis of population-based surveys. The Lancet Global Health (2023).
3. What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence? findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence. BMC Public Health (2011).
4. Cross-national and multilevel correlates of partner violence: an analysis of data from population-based surveys. The Lancet Global Health (2015).
5. Findings from the SASA! Study: a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a community mobilization intervention to prevent violence against women and reduce HIV risk in Kampala, Uganda. BMC Medicine (2014).