Survivors' Social Construction of Intimate Partner Violence in Cebu City, Philippines

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide social issue perpetrated by intimate male partners against their wives. Studies on IPV have generated accurate comparative information since the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women to guide strategy and track progress in attempts to comprehend the IPV issues. In many attempts to understand violence against women, the social construction of IPV was not well documented in the literature. This article aims to explore IPV survivors' social construction of IPV by analyzing the experiential narratives of IPV survivors. To address the objective, this article used the phenomenological approach by examining the lived experiences of 15 IPV survivors. Our study finds that IPV made IPV survivors empowered, and with this social construction, survivors were able to overcome violence perpetrated by their intimate partners. The findings further proved that giving preferential attention to the needs of IPV victims could lead to victim empowerment, a factor needed in the elimination of violence against women and children in all forms. It is suggested for any intervention activities to (a) ultimately address the empowerment of individuals and (b) respond to the needs of individuals because what may work for one victim may not work for another.