Medical-Legal Partnerships for Women With Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Opioid Use Disorder: An Exploratory Study

Penelope Morrison; Katherine McLean; Richard Wentling; Elizabeth Schachte; Bobur Rakhmatullaev

doi:10.1177/10778012251347622

Medical-Legal Partnerships for Women With Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Opioid Use Disorder: An Exploratory Study

Penelope Morrison
, Katherine McLean
, Richard Wentling
, Elizabeth Schachte
, Bobur Rakhmatullaev

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

We interviewed 40 individuals working across service domains (e.g., healthcare, criminal justice) to understand their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to employing a medical-legal partnership (MLP) in settings which serve women with co-occurring intimate partner violence and opioid use disorder (co-IPV/OUD). Providers cited “buy-in” from all stakeholders, establishing shared goals, objectives, and practices across stakeholders, training on IPV and OUD, and/or the need for additional staff, and funding as key considerations for MLPs in this context. Our study finds that MLPs represent a viable and promising potential pathway to providing more co-located or coordinated care for women with co-IPV/OUD.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2322-2348
Number of pages	27
Journal	Violence Against Women
Volume	32
Issue number	8 Violence Against Women in Sports-Related Contexts
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012251347622
State	Published - Apr 2026

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Gender Studies
Sociology and Political Science
Law

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10.1177/10778012251347622

Cite this

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title = "Medical-Legal Partnerships for Women With Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Opioid Use Disorder: An Exploratory Study",

abstract = "We interviewed 40 individuals working across service domains (e.g., healthcare, criminal justice) to understand their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to employing a medical-legal partnership (MLP) in settings which serve women with co-occurring intimate partner violence and opioid use disorder (co-IPV/OUD). Providers cited “buy-in” from all stakeholders, establishing shared goals, objectives, and practices across stakeholders, training on IPV and OUD, and/or the need for additional staff, and funding as key considerations for MLPs in this context. Our study finds that MLPs represent a viable and promising potential pathway to providing more co-located or coordinated care for women with co-IPV/OUD.",

author = "Penelope Morrison and Katherine McLean and Richard Wentling and Elizabeth Schachte and Bobur Rakhmatullaev",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).",

year = "2026",

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doi = "10.1177/10778012251347622",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "32",

pages = "2322--2348",

journal = "Violence Against Women",

issn = "1077-8012",

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}

Medical-Legal Partnerships for Women With Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Opioid Use Disorder: An Exploratory Study. / Morrison, Penelope ; McLean, Katherine ; Wentling, Richard et al.
In: Violence Against Women, Vol. 32, No. 8 Violence Against Women in Sports-Related Contexts, 04.2026, p. 2322-2348.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Medical-Legal Partnerships for Women With Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Opioid Use Disorder

T2 - An Exploratory Study

AU - Morrison, Penelope

AU - McLean, Katherine

AU - Wentling, Richard

AU - Schachte, Elizabeth

AU - Rakhmatullaev, Bobur

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

PY - 2026/4

Y1 - 2026/4

N2 - We interviewed 40 individuals working across service domains (e.g., healthcare, criminal justice) to understand their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to employing a medical-legal partnership (MLP) in settings which serve women with co-occurring intimate partner violence and opioid use disorder (co-IPV/OUD). Providers cited “buy-in” from all stakeholders, establishing shared goals, objectives, and practices across stakeholders, training on IPV and OUD, and/or the need for additional staff, and funding as key considerations for MLPs in this context. Our study finds that MLPs represent a viable and promising potential pathway to providing more co-located or coordinated care for women with co-IPV/OUD.

AB - We interviewed 40 individuals working across service domains (e.g., healthcare, criminal justice) to understand their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to employing a medical-legal partnership (MLP) in settings which serve women with co-occurring intimate partner violence and opioid use disorder (co-IPV/OUD). Providers cited “buy-in” from all stakeholders, establishing shared goals, objectives, and practices across stakeholders, training on IPV and OUD, and/or the need for additional staff, and funding as key considerations for MLPs in this context. Our study finds that MLPs represent a viable and promising potential pathway to providing more co-located or coordinated care for women with co-IPV/OUD.

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SN - 1077-8012

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JO - Violence Against Women

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ER -

Medical-Legal Partnerships for Women With Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Opioid Use Disorder: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

UN SDGs

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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