Cumulative Contexts of Vulnerability to Intimate Partner Violence Among Women With Disabilities, Elderly Women, and Immigrant Women: Prevalence, Risk Factors, Explanatory Theories, and Prevention

Some groups of women are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV) due to particular risks and/or experiences: women with disabilities, elderly women, and immigrant women (DEI). Too often, their reality goes unnoticed, especially for those belonging to more than one of these groups. In this literature review, researchers used an intersectional approach to document the similarities and differences in how DEI women experience IPV, in terms of forms and consequences, as well as related risk factors, explanatory theories, and prevention strategies. Researchers selected 56 articles for review based on the following inclusion criteria: studies on adults living in a situation of IPV, studies on one of the three demographics under study (DEI), studies about one or multiple research questions, and studies based on empirical data relying on research methodology in either French or English. Researchers evaluated each selected article for its quality according to a chart that was specially developed for this review. The results highlight existing "intersections" between these groups to help understand the influence of belonging to more than one vulnerability group on these women's experiences with IPV. The importance to better training social workers and developing policies and programs that target the social determinants of health to prevent IPV experienced by DEI is also discussed.