DLSPH researcher deepens our understanding of intimate partner violence and ways to help
November 18/2025
Multiple new studies led by IHPME Associate Professor, Beverley Essue, illustrate the urgent need to address intimate partner violence around the world, and opportunities to improve access to care here in Canada.
By Ishani Nath
Photos of animals — a tiger in a cage and a polar bear with a human smile pasted over the bear’s mouth — are displayed on a pink and teal background. Green foliage is pasted across the page with an image of a well-dressed man overseeing the world before him. One word appears across the top of the page: help.
DLSPH Associate Professor Beverley Essue remembers this collage vividly, in part because it captured so powerfully the experiences shared by the research participant who pieced it together. The artwork is one of several self-portraits created by women who shared their experiences with intimate partner violence as part of a Connaught-funded community- research partnership led by Essue (together with Tina Meisami, Cyndirela Chadambuka, Amaya Perez-Brumer, Patricia O’Campo, Sonica Singal, Matt Ratto and Isabel Caycho-Arruda), the Dr. Borna Meisami Commemorative Foundation (who runs the Restoring Smiles Program) and collaborators from other universities. The collages were on display at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) as part of the Beyond Smiles art exhibit and research panel. The event explored new research on barriers to dental health care access for women who have experienced intimate partner violence, the most common form of gender-based violence that affects 1 in 3 women in Canada who have ever been in a marriage or an intimate partner relationship.
“The exhibit created space, physical and metaphorical, for the voices and experiences of racialized women, who face a higher risk of experiencing IPV yet also remain less visible in research on this topic as well as in policy and practice responses,” says Essue, a global health systems researcher and Canada Research Chair in Economics for Global Health Systems Equity whose research explores and addresses access issues, especially those that create and sustain marginalization and vulnerability for individuals in health and social systems globally.
A driving force behind Essue’s work is bringing attention to the experiences of systemically marginalized populations and the urgent need to improve their access experiences and care in health and social systems. Through her research, she elevates gender-based violence not only as a profound human rights issue but also as a costly and far-reaching public health and economic challenge — one that affects individuals, communities, health systems, and economies alike, and demands serious policy attention. In 2020, she was invited to join the Lancet Commission on Gender-based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People as a Scientific Advisor and co-lead for the economics pillar of work. The Commission kicked off in March 2020, paralleling the dramatic rise in intimate partner violence during the pandemic, deemed a “shadow pandemic.” Essue has since led multiple studies and initiatives to deepen understanding of the myriad costs of gender-based violence to individuals, families, communities and economies, including the impacts on the labour force participation of individuals affected by violence. This research will help anchor and inform the evaluation of solutions to better prioritize and address the serious scourge of GBV that continues to wound societies.
In a global scoping review published in BMJ Public Health, Essue and colleagues investigated how racialized women who have experienced gender-based violence access, or in many cases struggle to access, much-needed support systems. With 195 studies that met their inclusion criteria, the majority from the Global North, Essue says the findings highlighted that women were most able to “overcome access barriers where they felt trusted, they felt believed, and there was a culture of empathy that was provided,” affirming the importance of trauma-informed and culturally sensitive and responsive care.
“Despite decades of powerful research on gender-based violence, progress has been painfully slow,” says Essue. “We’ve had sustained attention on the issue, yet we’ve made only marginal headway in tackling the structural and systemic drivers that put women at risk — especially racialized women, who face disproportionately high levels of violence —and that often re-traumatize them through the very systems meant to support healing and justice. There’s a deep and troubling disconnect between what we know, the scale of harm, and the actions governments are willing to take.”
Essue says it was precisely in that gap that she saw an opportunity: “This is a chance to shift the conversation — to generate new insights, elevate the experiences of those most affected, and reimagine systems that not only prevent violence, but also truly support survivors in their recovery.”
Essue brought her health systems and health economics perspective to a recently published Health Policy study (led by Gabriel John Dusing, with DLSPH Professor O’Campo and colleagues) that explored what intimate partner violence costs the public health care system in Canada — the first study of its kind. Previous research has shown that intimate partner violence leads to greater risk of future injuries and poorer general health in the long term. Using data from Ontario, researchers determined that intimate partner violence cost the province an estimated $7.63 billion from 2009 to 2020.
“We want health system planners to recognize that intimate partner violence—and gender-based violence more broadly — is a critical health systems issue,” says Essue. “This isn’t just about treating visible injuries from physical or sexual violence. All forms of GBV, including psychological and emotional abuse, leave lasting impacts on both physical and mental health across the life course. Health systems not only carry the burden of this harm — they have a responsibility to respond through early identification, trauma-informed care, and stronger integration of services that support survivors.”
She adds: “Prevention must be the priority, but health systems also have a vital role to play in identifying violence early and responding with supportive, trauma-informed care. What’s needed now is a mindset shift — one that sees addressing violence not as peripheral, but as essential to delivering effective, equitable health care.”
Her research emphasizes the need to train a wide range of professionals to recognize and respond appropriately to signs of intimate partner violence. In a recent study published in BMJ Public Health, Essue and her colleagues explored the critical role that dental care professionals can play in identifying and supporting women who have experienced IPV to support more integrated community responses to GBV.
“GBV has serious consequences for oral health, yet it remains largely invisible in dental practice and education,” says Essue. “This study highlights an urgent public health dentistry issue — one that also calls for trauma-informed care, policy reform to improve the affordability of care, and mandatory GBV training in dental curricula.”
Essue’s qualitative study with racialized women reinforced the findings from this review, as women shared experiences including having to choose between fixing their teeth or buying groceries, losing their confidence due to their appearance and not being believed by health care providers.
“No one really took the time to be empathetic,” shared one study participant.
“It didn’t feel good to be there, but I knew I needed to go to treatment,” shared another.
At the Beyond Smiles art exhibit and research launch, Essue and colleagues presented these results and hosted a panel with community and dental care leaders to feature opportunities to support healing and justice for survivors. Her team is now collaborating with community partners and individuals with lived experience of violence to translate these findings into the development of practical training to equip dental professionals to recognize and support patients affected by intimate partner violence. As a first step, the research has been integrated into a training webinar that was recently delivered to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario membership for professional education credits.
Reflecting on the launch event, another art piece stood out to Essue — one with bright tulips floating on an orange background. “In describing this piece, the participant spoke about her sense of hope — the possibility of a life beyond violence — made visible through care that was empathetic, humanizing, and truly saw her as a person.”