Exploring Resilience Among Survivors of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Canada

TL;DR

This study examines how survivors of domestic violence in rural Canada develop resilience and find safety through personal, social, and community strategies.

Contribution

The study contributes a nuanced understanding of resilience in rural domestic violence survivors, emphasizing the role of informal support and local context.

Findings

Survivors used individual, relational, and community-level strategies to seek safety from domestic violence.

Rural community dynamics both supported and hindered survivors' efforts to achieve safety.

Informal support networks played a crucial role in survivors' resilience and recovery.

Abstract

In this article, we explore survivor strategies for safety and the development of resilience in the context of domestic and intimate partner violence (D/IPV) experienced in rural Canada. Through the thematic analysis of 24 qualitative interviews, this paper identifies several ways that survivors sought safety on individual, relational, and community levels. Engaging a social ecological understanding of resilience, we highlight how the close‐knit nature of rural cultures presents opportunities and challenges when seeking safety for survivors of D/IPV. The findings of this study inform broader academic and policy discourses on rural D/IPV as well as D/IPV service provision in rural communities by deepening an understanding of the unique strategies for safety of rural survivors and the role of informal support in their resilience as they navigate extreme forms of D/IPV in rural Canada.