In their words: How do women in conservative faith communities survive intimate partner violence?

While domestic violence in general and intimate partner violence in particular have been the focus of multiple studies in the area of social sciences, medical science, law and public health, the existing literature is barely exploring the dynamics of intimate partner violence in closed communities. The problem's lack of visibility in such communities increases their vulnerability for intimate partner violence, domestic violence and child abuse. Conservative faith communities were not the intentional object of research on intimate partner violence, therefore little data on the dynamics of violence and the type of responses available in this community is presented in the existing literature. This presentation will discuss the preliminary results of a qualitative research consisting of 35 in-depth interviews with women survivors of intimate partner violence in conservative faith communities. We will explore the role of spirituality in healing, recovery from and prevention of intimate partner violence. Moving from a problem-focused approach to a strength perspective, we will discuss those elements of spirituality that become coping mechanisms for women survivors of intimate partner violence. We will also analyze the impact of spirituality on healing for women that witnessed domestic violence during their childhood and implicitly the role of spirituality in preventing post-traumatic stress disorders. Finally, we will discuss prevention strategies both at a practice and a policy level, identifying directions for further program development to address the needs of women survivors of intimate partner violence in this community.