Spangaro, JoSpence, NigelMan, NicolaWalsh, JeannetteCameron, JacquiHegarty, KelseyKoziol-McLain, JaneMcMahon, TadghZwi, AnthonyToole-Anstey, ChyePerry-Indermau, Astrid2025-04-152025-04-152025-04-09BMC Womens Health, ISSN: 1472-6874 (Print); 1472-6874 (Online), Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 25(1), 167-. doi: 10.1186/s12905-025-03698-z1472-68741472-6874http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19083Intimate partner violence (IPV) is highly prevalent globally, with increased risk for women in situations of conflict, post conflict and resettlement. The Safety and Health after Arrival (SAHAR) study tested IPV screening with women accessing settlement services in New South Wales, Australia, using the validated ACTS tool, along with brief response involving risk assessment, safety planning and referral. A three month follow-up telephone survey was administered to women who had attended four participating sites which delivered the intervention. The survey explored the nature of any IPV experienced, factors associated with disclosure, and responses provided to those who identified IPV. Data is reported on 316 women of whom 48 (15%) identified current IPV. For 45 women who responded to Composite Abuse Scale items, the most common forms of abuse were forced isolation from family/friends (56% 25/45), blame for abusive behaviour (53% 24/45), "put downs" (44% 20/45) and physical violence 38% (17/45). Psychological distress and post-migration stressors were significantly higher for women who disclosed IPV compared to those who did not. Length of residency in Australia and whether the screening occurred during the first or subsequent service visits, were not associated with the likelihood of disclosing IPV. The majority of women who disclosed reported the caseworker's response to be helpful and involved risk assessment, safety planning and referral. Screening and response to disclosure in settlement services provide opportunities to address abuse experienced by this group of women who are less likely to report experiences of abuse or use mainstream services.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Domestic violenceIntimate partner violenceRefugeeSettlement services4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health SciencesViolence Against WomenBehavioral and Social ScienceMental HealthViolence ResearchClinical ResearchPreventionWomen's Health8.1 Organisation and delivery of servicesMental health5 Gender Equality16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions1110 Nursing1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine1117 Public Health and Health ServicesObstetrics & Reproductive Medicine3215 Reproductive medicine4204 Midwifery4206 Public healthHumansFemaleRefugeesIntimate Partner ViolenceAdultNew South WalesMiddle AgedStress, PsychologicalSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultAustraliaHumansFemaleRefugeesIntimate Partner ViolenceAdultNew South WalesMiddle AgedStress, PsychologicalSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultAustraliaJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1186/s12905-025-03698-z