Interpersonal Violence (IPV)

Interpersonal violence (IPV) is defined by the Violence Prevention Alliance as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation." (VPA, n.d.). Elliott (2003) further defines IPV as including domestic violence and childhood physical as well as sexual abuse. Most persons are more accustomed to hearing the term “domestic violence”. Domestic Violence was coined as a more traditional view of intimate partner abuse was gaining prosecutorial support. This traditional view of violence in a relationship was focused specifically on instances of abuse involving a heterosexual marriage. The most common expectation of the husband as perpetrator and the wife was the victim often defined the public’s impression of domestic violence. (Sauerbier & Jenkins, 2003)
This view of domestic violence originated in the early 1970s. It was during this time in which women’s rights groups began to organize advocacy movements that highlighted the need to address abuse, including marital rape, by husbands against their wives. This strong presence of advocacy resulted in …show more content…
With the rise in research, pubic awareness and therefore governmental awareness of domestic violence increased. The US Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 and it was enacted in 1996 (US Dept. of Justice, 1994). This legislation strengthened existing laws regarding assault by specifically identifying violence against women as a crime in which focused attention and targeted solutions were needed. This legislation provided specific protections for victims of domestic violence (US Dept. of Justice,