The life course of domestic violence services: A qualitative analysis of the incongruence of contemporary services for meeting the needs of Black women survivors

Black women in the United States experience disproportionately high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and face significant barriers to accessing culturally congruent services. Ecological theories, such as Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) chronosystem and intersectional frameworks including Black feminist theorists such as Hill Collins’ (2000) matrix of domination and Richie’s (2012) violence matrix, illustrate that Black women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) are entwined within broader historical and sociopolitical forces. These factors, including structural racism, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, have influenced the design, delivery, and perception of IPV services, constraining help-seeking options and limiting access to care that is congruent with the lived experiences of Black survivors (Murugan et al., 2022). We employed a qualitative approach and purposive sampling to interview 18 IPV service providers in a Midwestern metropolitan area. Interviews were framed within the intersecting chronosystem influences of the domestic violence movement, structural racism, COVID-19, and the BLM movement and asked service providers to observe the ways that contemporary IPV services address the needs of Black survivors. Data collection included a brief demographic questionnaire and individual, semi-structured interviews via Zoom. Thematic analysis was used to identify key patterns in the data. Four themes emerged to reflect service providers’ perceptions of the availability, accessibility, and cultural responsiveness of IPV services for Black women: (1) Racist tropes minimize Black women’s lived experiences; (2) Criminal Justice as the default IPV remedy might not be an option for many Black women; (3) Traditional advocacy efforts may inadvertently reinforce the very oppression they aim to dismantle; and (4) Black advocates carry additional burdens in advocacy. The insights highlight the need for transformative IPV services that prioritize Black survivors’ voices and promote equity, safety, and healing beyond carceral systems.