Introduction. Not only the experience of violence, but also the institutional response impacts women‘s efforts to seek help and protection (Smith & Freyd, 2017), therefore, it is important to analyze the institutional response women encounter when seeking help from police, specialized complex help centers, child protection services, and how it relates to the trust that women survivors of intimate partner violence have in institutions. Methods. The study included 498 women survivors of male intimate partner violence (average age M = 42.62 years, Standard Deviation = 13.12). The study assessed experiences of violence, the institutional response, as well as trust in these institutions following interaction with them. Analysis. Statistical data analysis included comparison of means, correlational analysis, and regression analysis. Results. The results revealed that women reported experiencing most often psychological abuse (70.10 %) and economic control (61.45 %); physical abuse was the least common (33.73 %). Around 15 percent (n = 74) of women who experienced violence sought help from institutions; after doing so, they were more likely to trust than not to trust the institutions (M = 2.39, SD = 1.23), but rated the institutions’ response as more inadequate (M = 0.47, SD = 0.33). It was found that the institutional response and trust in institutions are linked (r = 0.70, p<0.01). Conclusions. These results are significant as they reveal problem areas that women survivors of violence face when seeking help. The article provides recommendations for institutions and the specialists that work in them on how to organize help to women survivors of violence more effectively, while simultaneously promoting and increasing their trust in state institutions.
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