[Gender-based violence against women the Aymara ethnic in northern Chile]

Abstract

Introduction: We analyze the gender-based violence against women considering the Aymara ethnic ascendance as a casual factor.

Material and methods: We applied the spanish version of the Index of Spouse Abuse Scales (ISA) and Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) on 400 women, which currently live in the region of Arica and Parinacota, Chile.

Results: The individuals show that non-physical violence is the predominant behavior in couples and higher rate of violence is present in women with Aymara ancestry than others.

Conclusions: We conclude that social constructions of gender may be a risk factor in violence against women because of its influence in social inequalities and abuses of power against women.