Domestic abuse involving intimate partners is happening at a higher rate in the nation’s rural areas than it is in urban ones, a problem made worse by fewer safety screenings of people who are potentially at risk for abuse, according to studies conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota.
One of the studies, conducted through the university’s Rural Health Research Center, looked at the challenges faced by victims and survivors of such violence in rural areas. It did so by speaking with advocacy organizations, state-based coalitions and service organizations that help victims of intimate partner violence.
Other studies found that physical intimate partner violence is more common among rural expectant mothers in the U.S. and that rural victims of intimate partner violence are at a higher risk of not being screened for abuse compared with those in urban areas.
The researchers hope their work will shed light on the extent of domestic partner violence in rural spaces, which some say are ill-equipped to deal with the trend because they are underfunded and understaffed.
The team interviewed staff members from 15 organizations, including five national policy and advocacy service groups, five state-based coalitions and five direct service organizations that serve rural communities in four states. The Minnesota organizations included Violence Free Minnesota, the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center and Southwest Crisis Center.
Challenges for rural victims
Many of the groups brought up similar themes that pose challenges for the prevention of intimate partner violence, said Alyssa Fritz, a research and policy fellow of the Rural Health Research Center and co-author of the studies.
Mandated reporting laws, for example, can often result in negative impacts for the victim, said Guadalupe Lopez, the executive director of Violence Free Minnesota, a statewide coalition of organizations that work to end relationship abuse.
Lopez has seen children separated from their mothers and removed from their homes because abuse was reported.
“Someone that is experiencing violence already has a loss of control or power over their life and loss of agency and so having this decision made for them … it’s another way of taking away some of that power,” Fritz said.
Interviewees who talked to Fritz also shared the importance of sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE). Those nurses have additional training that helps them care for sexual assault victims — and have been shown to improve health outcomes. Lopez said they are “incredibly important” to communities but that there’s also a need for nurses who know how to deal with domestic violence cases and collect forensic evidence.
Fritz said many organizations expressed a shortage of SANE nurses in rural areas. A study of the availability of SANE practitioners in Pennsylvania, for instance, found that in 2022 only 16.7% of rural Pennsylvania counties had a certified SANE, compared with 68.4% of nonrural counties.
Higher rates of partner violence
The University of Minnesota’s research found that nationwide, 4.6% of rural residents and 3.2% of urban residents reported experiencing physical violence from a current or former intimate partner.
Greater Minnesota is also overrepresented in intimate partner homicides based on its smaller population. A report from Violence Free Minnesota found that from 1989 to 2018, 45.5% of intimate partner homicides of women were in Greater Minnesota and 54.5% were in the metro.
“A lot of people have the stereotype that inner city and urban areas carry the most violence,” Lopez said.
Lopez said some communities don’t hold people accountable in the same ways as others.
“Each county, each city handles domestic violence so differently,” she said. “Some cities have domestic violence courts that really pay attention and hold that violence in a different way, and some cities don’t, where things are falling through the cracks.”
Much of the university’s research focuses on potential solutions that could help victims when they’re facing intimate partner violence. Some organizations brought up financial help for victims as a key pathway.
“Not being able to support oneself is one of the top reasons that victims feel like they can’t leave abusive situations,” Fritz said. “People know their needs more than anyone else.”
Oregon, for example, offers temporary funds to domestic violence survivors.
Meggie Royer, the prevention program manager at Violence Free Minnesota, said the staffing and the funding of shelters and other forms of support is a concern in rural areas because often one office is the only resource available.
In rural areas, Royer said transportation to a shelter or community organization that offers aid is also a barrier to receiving help.
Fewer screenings in rural areas
The research also found that victims of partner abuse in rural areas were less likely to be asked about abuse in healthcare settings, which could provide a chance for intervention.
Before pregnancy, 60.4% of rural residents and 57.8% of urban residents who experienced intimate partner violence were not screened for abuse, according to the research. Many of the victims lacked health care visits before pregnancy, with approximately 35% of rural residents and 33.1% of urban residents who experienced intimate partner violence not having attended a visit in the year before their pregnancy.
The research found that 21.3% of rural residents and 16.5% of urban residents who experienced intimate partner violence reported not receiving abuse screening. In addition, 40% of rural and 36.3% of urban victims were not screened at the visits they did attend, which Fritz found alarming. “Healthcare is such an important place to have to be screened or have resources,” Fritz said. “For some people, it might be the only confidential place they can access support for it.”
Ava Kian
Ava Kian is MinnPost’s Greater Minnesota reporter. Follow her on Twitter @kian_ava or email her at akian@minnpost.com.
