Variations in Women’s Help Seeking in Response to Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From a Canadian Population-Based Study

Abstract

This study examined the role of sociodemographic factors and v iolence characteristics in influencing women’s use of informal and formal supports in response to intimate partner v iolence (IPV) in a national surv ey of Canadian households. A subset of female respondents in the 1999 Canadian General Social Surv ey who experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual IPV by a male current or former intimate partner was used for this analysis. Findings suggest that although there are significant sociodemographic v ariations in women’s help seeking, the largest independent predictor of women’s use of supports is fear that one’s life is in danger.