Abstract
IntroductionSince 2008, Spain has been in the throes of an economic crisis. This recession particularly affects the living conditions of vulnerable populations, and has also led to a reversal in social policies and a reduction in resources. In this context, the aim of this study was to explore intimate partner violence (IPV) service providers’ perceptions of the impact of the current economic crisis on these resources in Spain and on their capacity to respond to immigrant women’s needs experiencing IPV.MethodsA qualitative study was performed based on 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews to social workers, psychologists, intercultural mediators, judges, lawyers, police officers and health professionals from different services dealing with IPV (both, public and NGO’s) and cities in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante) in 2011. Transcripts were imported into qualitative analysis software (Atlas.ti), and analysed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsWe identified four categories related to the perceived impact of the current economic crisis: a) “Immigrant women have it harder now”, b) “IPV and immigration resources are the first in line for cuts”, c) “ Fewer staff means a less effective service” and d) “Equality and IPV policies are no longer a government priority”. A cross-cutting theme emerged from these categories: immigrant women are triply affected; by IPV, by the crisis, and by structural violence.ConclusionThe professionals interviewed felt that present resources in Spain are insufficient to meet the needs of immigrant women, and that the situation might worsen in the future.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-014-0079-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Since 2008, Spain has been in the throes of an economic crisis
The analysis of the interviews with service providers revealed four categories related to the negative impact of the reforms prompted by the economic crisis, as perceived by professionals: a) “Immigrant women have it harder ”, b) “Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and immigration resources are the first in line for cuts”, c) “Fewer staff means a less effective service” and d) “Equality and IPV policies are no longer a government priority”
A cross-cutting theme emerged from the categories, which expressed the latent content of the interviews: Immigrant women are triply affected; by IPV, by the economic crisis and by structural violence
Summary
Since 2008, Spain has been in the throes of an economic crisis This recession affects the living conditions of vulnerable populations, and has led to a reversal in social policies and a reduction in resources. In this context, the aim of this study was to explore intimate partner violence (IPV) service providers’ perceptions of the impact of the current economic crisis on these resources in Spain and on their capacity to respond to immigrant women’s needs experiencing IPV. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women is the most common type of male VAW. Within countries, some populations of women may be at greater vulnerable situation such is the case of migrant women due to different factors related to social exclusion: expatriation, lack of legal immigrant status, economic hardship and economic dependence on their partners [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
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