Barriers to Help-Seeking in a Spanish Sample of Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Objective This study tests a conceptual model exploring the mediating effects of perceived severity and assessed risk in the relationship between dependency and help-seeking behaviors in psychological, physical, and sexual violence. Method The sample consisted of 266 survivors of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) (M age = 27.88 years; SD = 9.49), of which 23.7% reported having suffered physical violence from their partner or former partner, 83.8% psychological violence, and 54.1% sexual violence. Results Higher dependency scores were associated with lower perceived severity of violence, lower assessed levels of risk, and thus elevated difficulty in engaging in help seeking in all types of violence. Conclusions Educating on equality and raising awareness of the seriousness and risk of IPVAW will be critical in facilitating help-seeking responses.