Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is any behaviour within a current or former intimate relationship that causes physical, sexual, psychological, economic or technological harm, such as coercive control, stalking or cyber‑violence【3】. The abuse can be episodic or chronic; chronic exposure triggers sustained activation of the hypothalamic‑pituitary‑adrenal axis, producing cortisol‑mediated changes in the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex that underlie hyper‑vigilance, dissociation and difficulty with decision‑making【3】.