Intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence againstwomen and is a widespread social problem that affects women among allsocioeconomic, religious and cultural groups. It is the social services responsibilityto meet these women and to especially consider the well-being of women who havebeen exposed to violence or abuse by a partner. Research within the field shows thatthere are several reasons why it may be difficult for abused women to break therelationship with the abuser. One reason is the feelings of guilt and shame thatcommonly submerge in an abusive relationship. Research suggests that women whohave been victims to domestic abuse may need informal support before they seekfurther support from professionals. How this first uncovering of the violence isreceived may be crucial to the woman's further actions and reasoning about hersituation. In today's society we live a big part of our lives online where we interactwith each other on a daily basis. Several people turn to digital platforms to receiveadvice and support for their real issues when they may feel like they can't turn topeople around them in real life. These digital platforms have been seen gettingincreasingly used by survivors of intimate partner violence to share theirexperiences as well as seek support and advice.

This study is a netnographic study about women exposed to intimate partnerviolence and their help seeking behaviors on the Swedish online forums Flashbackand Familjeliv. The aim of this study is to explore the responses these women getwhen they seek support and advice about their situation online. The results of thisstudy shows that women who seek support online receive a wide range of responseswhere we could identify stigmatizing as well as destigmatizing elements. Thestigmatizing responses consisted mainly of victim blaming where the woman wastold she had herself to blame whereas the destigmatizing responses consisted ofemotional support and practical advice.