Women's reflections on their strategies used to protedct their children in the face of domestic violence

Abstract

The unique strategies women use to physically and emotionally protect their children in the context of domestic violence often remain unacknowledged by society. Protective efforts that remains unacknowledged situate abused women in a position where they are perceived as unprotective or as unfit parents, which has significant ramifications for both the mother and her children. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of women’s experiences of maternal protectiveness. It also aimed to explore the variety of protective strategies abused women used to physically and emotionally protect their children in the context of domestic violence. This qualitative study was undertaken from a phenomenological position. Three participants were selected from The Potter’s House, a shelter for abused women, using a purposive participant selection process. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three super-ordinate themes and 14 sub-ordinate themes were generated from the data. The findings suggest that abused women find it important to protect their children, despite their experience of mothering in the context of domestic violence to be difficult. Women use different strategies to protect their children physically and emotionally from domestic violence. Additionally, the study found that the protective strategies women use is significantly related to circumstances and resources available to women.