"No More Dead-End Jobs": A Qualitative Study of the Employment-Seeking Experiences of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has a long lasting, debilitating effect on psychological well-being, physical health, and economic security. Despite the many negative impacts of IPV, women in abusive relationships struggle to leave and cite economic dependency as one of the main factors that prevents them from leaving. Marginalized survivors of IPV (e.g., low-income women, racial and ethnic minority women) face multiple barriers to employment ranging from racial bias to lack of work experience or education, to welfare restrictions, all of which impact their employment-seeking process. Stable employment can help survivors become financially secure and break free from violence. However, there is scant research on the experiences of diverse employment-seeking survivors of IPV, which is essential to drive programmatic efforts to increase employment and safety. Thus, this study sought to understand how IPV survivors who are either currently employed or actively seeking employment perceive their employment seeking experiences.

Methods: A constructivist grounded theory method was used. Fifteen in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with survivors of intimate partner violence in a large northeastern U.S. city. Survivors were recruited from IPV organizations using a theoretical sampling strategy. Interviews focused on questions that elicited the survivor’s views on IPV and employment, barriers to employment, employment services, survivor empowerment and how their experiences were informed by their broader sociocultural contexts. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, analyzed, and coded using the constant comparison method of grounded theory. Through focused coding, themes were identified, linked, and developed into mid-level theory.

Findings: Findings indicate that IPV considerably impacts job seeking and employment. Survivors face multiple barriers to employment at the intrapersonal (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, damaged self-esteem), interpersonal (e.g., ties to abusive partner, ongoing legal cases, responsibilities related to child care, weak social networks), community (lack of social support, few employment opportunities, poverty), and structural (racism, sexism, classism, ableism) level. Survivors with multiple marginalized identities (e.g., racialized, trans, queer, immigrant) experience additional barriers and structural inequities (e.g., stigma, transphobia, homophobia) while seeking employment. Some survivors experience various forms of empowerment while job-seeking, exhibited through personal resiliency, relationships with other job-seeking survivors, experience in empowerment-focused programs, and securing living wage employment. Employment programs and career counseling can help support survivors as they seek employment.

Conclusions and implications: This study explores how employment seeking is shaped by women’s individual characteristics, social identities, and structural inequities, as well as their abuse experiences. This research responds to previous knowledge gaps by exploring the multidimensional experiences of employed survivors of IPV – from the perspectives of IPV survivors themselves. Empowerment-focused interventions are suggested, which draw on women’s empowerment already exhibited and rebuilds self-esteem. Findings support a multilevel approach to empowerment-focused employment services that address barriers for employment-seeking survivors of IPV.