"Persist. persist.": A qualitative study of women's decisions to disclose and their perceptions of the impact of routine screening for intimate partner violence.

School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaObjective: To understand the conditions under which a group of women recruited fromantenatal, mental health, and substance abuse services disclose abuse in response toroutine screening for intimate partner violence and their constructions of the impact ofroutine screening. Method: In-depth interviews with 20 women followed up 6 monthsafter disclosing abuse in response to screening. Results: Women were in diversesituations relating to trajectories of abuse that included continued abuse despite inter-ventions and abuse cessation within relationship. Women disclosed their abuse aftermaking active judgments about safety on three dimensions: from the abuser, fromshame and from relinquishing control. Most women described valued impacts fromscreening, though this was less common for those who had previous contact withstatutory agencies. The process of asking shaped constructions of abuse, giving nameto it. Health workers’ responses to disclosures often helped to create a sense ofconnection. Conclusions: These effects align with Herman’s work identifying namingand reconnection as important steps in recovery from trauma. The diversity of women’ssituations may explain difculties in achieving signicant ndings by RCTs on screen-ing impacts. Screening can bring about important changes for some women and is notsimply a strategy for identication and referral.Keywords: