Formal and Informal Services Used by Women Who Suffer Intimate Partner Violence in Spain

Violence Vict. 2023 Jun 1;38(3):358-374. doi: 10.1891/VV-2022-0026.

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important public health problem. Female victims of IPV do not always use the institutional resources available to them. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Spanish 2014 Macro-Survey on Violence Against Women. The findings show that 15% of the survey participants suffered from IPV in the last year. The factors associated with a higher probability of suffering IPV are being of non-Spanish nationality, being a student, having a low-educational level, having no income, being the household head, and not having a current partner. Regarding the resources used by women subjected to IPV, almost half resorted to informal sources, such as female friends and/or their own mothers. The use of formal resources was low. Therefore, IPV continues to be a problem in Spain that seems to remain in the private domain. Consequently, it is necessary to increase the availability of and access to legal resources.

Keywords: Spain; physical violence; prevalence; psychological violence; public health; sexual violence.

MeSH terms

  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Income
  • Intimate Partner Violence*
  • Mothers
  • Prevalence
  • Risk Factors
  • Sexual Partners
  • Spain