How safe are battered women?

Abstract

I was always interested in domestic violence, particularly about marital breakdown through marital violence. However, I slowly altered my focus, when I went to Merhbabik, a shelter for battered women, for my pre-placement. While I observed the battered women living there, I could see that although they were in a safe place, they still had to face different obstacles. Sometimes, they received threats night and day from their husband or partner, even after leaving Merhbabik. The support from their family and from professionals was not always available for these women. Through such observations, I began to ask a lot of questions and I gradually began to formulate a hypothesis for my dissertation. I thus decided to study the psychological and physical safety of battered women as soon as they leave home in depth. I have analysed how much the person feels safe and the levels of safety and I saw the different factors which affect this safety, including the impact of current police and legal procedures. In order to study this impact, I also compared the current local procedures, with those used by the Metropolitan Police of London. Subsequently, the role of the social worker was identified. I have also talked briefly about the need of the social worker to work other professionals to ensure the woman's safety. Finally, I have presented some conclusions and recommendations on the subject, in the hope that these will be considered in the near future.