This chapter addresses the issues of both physical and non-physical injuries which the participating women sustained as a result of domestic violence. Making a distinction between physical and non-physical injuries proved important in relation to the response of health practitioners as well as the women from stage one. Just as definitions of violence and abuse can be problematic, so too do women who experience domestic violence feel these contradictions. This is compounded by abuse, which has a non-physical health impact and results in injuries which cannot be seen either by the participating women or ‘others’.

Physical injuries

This section of Chapter Three is intended to illustrate the types of domestic violence-related injuries which women present to healthcare professionals. Out of the 10 women who participated in this research, eight had experienced physical abuse at the hands of an intimate male partner. While Jemima and Emma recalled only one physically abusive incident, the remaining six women described experiencing physical violence consistently throughout their relationships. In particular, Iris, Helena, Amy, Brenda and Carol (predominantly older women participants) described increasingly violent physical attacks which resulted in an escalation in the seriousness of their injuries. This finding is in keeping with previous research which suggests that violence escalates over time as the abusive relationship moves through a cycle of abuse1 which repeats itself:

Only Debbie and Francis had not experienced physical abuse as adults. Four of the women, Amy, Brenda, Carol and Iris, had experienced physical sexual abuse within their domestically violent relationships. By identifying the abuse that the participating women experienced we can observe that the majority did experience physical abuse: