Women's help seeking for intimate partner violence in Jordan.

Little is known about Jordanian women's help seeking for intimate partner violence (IPV), despite local and international investment in victim services. Using a clinic based survey (n = 517; response rate 70%) and focus group discussions (FGDs, n = 17) we explored Jordanian women's nonfamily help seeking for physical or sexual IPV. We evaluated survey data using bivariate and multivariate regression and examined FGD transcripts using open coding methodology. Nonfamily help seeking was uncommon, an option only in serious circumstances after familial help was ineffective, and correlated with violence severity and relative violence. Nonfamily resources are underutilized but critical for vulnerable Jordanian women.