Male violence against women in intimate partner relationships is a global public health problem and a serious crime, but remains largely underreported. The overall ain of this thesis was, by means of an interdisciplinary approach and from the perspectives of gender, public health and law, to gain a deeper understanding of the situation of abused women, by studying, on one hand, their leaving processes and, on the other, the consequences of the violence for their health. On the basis of this information, a further aim was to increase knowledge of the quality and effect of gender relations in the practical application of the law. The point of departure was that the different perspectives should not be consodered separately but should be seen in context. The thesis describes the prcess for abused women, from the violent relationship and the break-up, the health consequences caused by the violence to the practical application of the law.

The thesis consists of four studies (I-IV). An initial qualitative study (I) showed that the leaving process for abused women is fearful, complex and long-lasting. The analysis also revealed a gradual development of strong emotional bonds towards the men on the part of the women. Study II was a combination of qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative measurements and confirmed former studies regarding the negative health consequences caused by the violence, in particular symptoms of complex PTSD. Study III, examining preliminary investiagtions concerning reported crimes of intimate partner violence, showed that there is still a lack of crminal justice for abused women even if the frequency of cases leading to prosecution was fairly high. In study IV court case records were examined by means of a qualitative method inspired by discourse analysis to determine whether gender is (re)constructed in court practice, and how the process works. The analysis of this particular sample indicated that the practical application of law is influenced by an old-fashioned and stereotypical view of violence, sexuality, men and women. the legal discourses retain and reproduce the gender order. The overall results of the separate studies reinforce the importance of gaining a broader understanding of men's violence against women in intimate partner relationships.