How do women in Spain deal with an abusive relationship?

Ruiz-Pérez, Isabel; Plazaola-Castaño, Juncal; Río-Lozano, María del

doi:10.1136/jech.2005.041624

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In spite of the increase in the number of governmental and non-governmental services for battered women in Spain, our results suggested that the use of these services is far below expectations, although the percentage of women who use them has increased from 7% to 12% according to a previous Spanish study 13. To promote the use of these services media campaigns should better inform about the help they could provide.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 68%

Strategic responses to intimate partner violence against women in Spain: a national study in primary care

Montero

Ruiz-Pérez

Escribà‐Agüir

et al. 2010

J Epidemiol Community Health

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BackgroundResearch on women''s responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) has largely been limited to women who have been exposed to severe physical violence with scarce generalisation. This study aimed to analyse how Spanish abused women from different backgrounds and with different IPV characteristics respond to violence. Method Women experiencing IPV before the previous year (1469) were selected from a large cross-sectional national survey of adult women recruited during 2006e7 among female patients seeking medical care for whatever reason in primary healthcare services. The outcome variables were women's responses to IPV and the predictor variables were personal and social resources profiles and characteristics of the abuse (type, duration and women's age at onset). Stepwise logistic regression models were fitted. Results 87.5% of abused women took some kind of action to overcome IPV. Significant differences on personal and social profile and type and duration of the abuse were detected between the three strategic responses: distancing, in process and inhibition. The probability of a woman responding with a distancing strategy (seeking outside help or leaving temporarily) is almost three times greater if she is employed, was young when the abuse began, had experienced physical and psychological abuse and when the abuse was under 5 years. Conclusions The results of this study show that personal and social resources and the specific circumstances of the abuse should be taken into account to understand women's responses to IPV. Well-validated interventions targeted at abused women's needs and the circumstances of IPV remain a priority.Research on women's responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) has shifted in more recent times from victim blaming to examining various macro and micro barriers to leaving a violent relationship. Although economic dependency is ranked as the primary reason for women not leaving, problems within the justice system are believed to rank second.2 Safety concerns may also be relevant, as it is a particularly dangerous time due to the increased risk of violence and stalking. Qualitative studies performed with women who have ended a violent relationship suggest that overcoming IPV should be viewed as a complex process rather than a discrete incident.4 5 Different conceptual frameworks 6e8 were proposed to describe the process of change in abused women, and one of the most used has been the transtheoretical model of behaviour change (TTM). According to this conceptual framework, a woman's awareness of and response to violence might therefore be expected to vary according to the stage of the violent relationship she is in at a given point in time. However, findings of recent studies suggested that movement between stages generally proceed in a non-lineal direction and the interplay between both internal and external factors could better explain this process of change towards safety. Quantitative research 11e15 indicates that most abused women do eventually leave their abusers...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 68%

Strategic responses to intimate partner violence against women in Spain: a national study in primary care

Montero

Ruiz-Pérez

Escribà‐Agüir

et al. 2010

J Epidemiol Community Health

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“…On the other hand, other studies observe that when direct questions are posed regarding abuse in an ideal setting, the majority of women are forthcoming with their answers. In fact, in Spain, studies conducted in the health area reveal a low non-response rate 43 – 45…”

Section: Limitations and Bias In Research On Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Methodological issues in the study of violence against women

Ruiz-Pérez

Plazaola-Castaño

Vives‐Cases

2007

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

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“…Studies from the US, including both urban and rural populations, as well from countries including Haiti, Nepal, India, Turkey and Spain have found that presence of children in the home is associated with increased prevalence of IPV [12, 18–23]. The highest odds of abuse was among the subgroup of women living with children in the home but not cohabitating with their current partner; such abuse was largely perpetrated by a former partner.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Presence of children in the home and intimate partner violence among women seeking elective pregnancy termination

et al. 2017

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IntroductionGrowing evidence identifies adverse health effects for children who witness intimate partner violence at home. Research has also identified that women seeking elective pregnancy termination are at high risk for partner violence. However, little is known about the risk for violence exposure among the children of women seeking elective pregnancy termination.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of 957 women seeking elective pregnancy termination at a large family planning clinic. All subjects completed a 10-minute, anonymous questionnaire administered by computer in a private room. Our main outcome was 12-month prevalence of physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former partner using the Abuse Assessment Screen instrument. The presence of children under the age of 18 living with the respondent was the main exposure variable.ResultsWomen with children in the home had more than twice the odds of reporting physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year than women with no children, controlling for age (AOR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.41–3.85). The increased odds of IPV among women with children as compared to women with no children was present across nearly all sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, and significantly higher for the youngest women (18–20 years). The highest odds for abuse occurred among women with children living at home, in a current relationship but not living with their current partner, and abused by a former partner (AOR = 10.9; 95% CI: 3.07–38.4).ConclusionNearly one of every 14 children identified in this study lived in a home with IPV. These findings support the development of IPV interventions that are family-centered, as well as the integration of trauma-informed care into healthcare settings. Healthcare visits for contraception and pregnancy termination may be ideal opportunities for implementation of screening and family violence interventions.

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How do women in Spain deal with an abusive relationship?

Abstract: Identifying the factors that have an influence on the response adopted by abused women allows us to better understand the support needed by them to abandon an abusive relationship.

Cited by 27 publications

References 27 publications

Strategic responses to intimate partner violence against women in Spain: a national study in primary care

Strategic responses to intimate partner violence against women in Spain: a national study in primary care

Methodological issues in the study of violence against women

Presence of children in the home and intimate partner violence among women seeking elective pregnancy termination

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