WOMEN victims of domestic violence often go straight from one abusive relationship to another, a study has suggested.

The research, carried out in Sheffield as part of a three-year investigation into how victims of domestic violence seeking help are treated, found that most of these women had suffered some sort of violence or abuse in childhood, or had experienced “significant deprivation”, such as being taken into care.

Paula Nicholson, an expert in psychology and family life at Royal Holloway, University of London, who conducted the study, said that she was surprised by her findings.

“We had made the assumption that the women who spoke to us in depth had one-off relationships with violent men, but we found that six out of twenty-six cases had between two and six abusive partners,” she said. “Most of these women, after they had found a place of safety, returned to these men.”

The findings, which suggest that as many as one in four women may be repeating a cycle of abuse, will challenge perceptions about victims of domestic violence.

Professor Nicholson, who carried out the research in collaboration with the Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum, said she was well aware of the controversial nature of the work.

“It’s unfashionable to talk about cycles of abuse, but that is what I found,” she said. “It is almost like a cycle of victimhood. In some circles it is taboo to mention that some abused women had been abused before.”

She added: “I’ve spoken to social work practitioners who were not surprised that some women had a number of violent partners and had a violent past.

“There are feminist advocates who say that if you start talking about cycles of deprivation or abuse, then it appears that nothing can change for these women, but that is not true. I think by addressing it we can change it. There is never an excuse for abusive men. But on the other hand it’s important to understand that background of women who go from abusive relationship to abusive relationship.”

Her study, Domestic Abuse: Women Seeking Help, identified a gap between agencies with domestic abuse policies and “front-line services” such as GPs and social and health workers who failed to help women when they were confronted with symptoms of abuse.

The study was criticised by Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, who described it as “limited” and said it encouraged the “well-known sport of victim blaming”.

She said: “The blaming, the passing of the buck and the justifications go on and on and round and round. The real issue is that abusive men fail to take responsibility for their behaviour, and society turns a sceptical face towards the women it should be helping, rather than looking for the deeper truths and causes which are harder to address.”

Erin Pizzey, who set up the first woman’s refuge in 1971, said that the study confirmed what she had been saying for years.

“There are women who are innocent victims of their partner’s violence and there are others who are making repeat relationships or who keep going back to the same relationship,” she said.

“Violent relationships can be like an addiction to drugs and alcohol and these are the people who need the most help.”

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