The public shall follow via a link to be shared on the School’s social media platforms. The candidate and the  panelists shall attend in the Multi Purpose Conference Room, Senate Building Level 2.

ABSTRACT
The study aimed at assessing female survivors’ experiences of intimate partner violence and
access to Justice, with a focus on relationships involving male police officers. In order to
understand the complexity of IPV against women, the study employed an integrated
ecological framework because it provided a nuanced conceptualization of IPV at different
levels and why it happened. The study also employed the intersectionality theory that helped
the researcher to explore and understand women’s varied experiences of IPV and access to
justice. The researcher also used the rational choice exchange theory which helped her
understand the intricacies surrounding officers’ choice to perpetrate or not to perpetrate IPV
and women’s choice to report or not to report IPV.
Methodologically, the researcher used case study design in which in depth analysis of female
survivors’ experiences of IPV and access to justice were developed. The study was
qualitative and it involved twenty in-depth interviews with female survivors of IPV and six
male spouses. In addition, seventeen key informant interviews were conducted and six focus
group discussions were conducted. The study findings indicate that female survivors of
intimate partner violence experienced, economic sexual, physical and psychological violence.
Factors leading to IPV included: institutional, economic, social, cultural and individual
factors. Factors affecting women’s access to justice were institutional, cultural, economic,
and individual. Women employed coping mechanisms including marriage preservation, self-
preservation, and child protection mechanisms.
The study concludes that police operations results into work spillovers that trigger IPV
against women. These spillovers are evident in police transfers, daily deployments, outposts,
and work related stress. Inadequate housing and alcoholism have created tensions and serious
damage to police families. Female survivors’ access to justice is highly constrained when the
abuser is a member of law enforcement. The study recommends that Government should
address the institutional factors that trigger IPV in police families, and it should organize
sensitization programs for officers, and spouses about IPV and its impact on families.
Government should empower women economically and improve their pathways to justice.