Urban and rural residence and its significance on services for victims of domestic violence in Cyprus

Abstract

Data from a domestic violence non-governmental organization (NGO) in Cyprus was used to determine whether differences between urban and rural dwellers are present. Previous literature has indicated inconsistency in the actions of service providers in rural and urban settings, as well as a wide range of factors (for example, shame, religion) that may be able to justify any possible differences between rural and urban dwellers in their use of services for domestic violence. On the basis of the existing literature, we expected fewer calls from rural dwellers, no differences between the two samples on the services they would request and receive from the NGO, and finally, rural dwellers would have less access to services than urban dwellers. Data was obtained from SPAVO, the only NGO dealing with domestic violence in Cyprus. This data covered a 2-year period (2011–2012) and is gathered by SPAVO’s call centre from people calling the request information or report an incident of abuse. Results indicated no differences in the services the victims from both areas received before contacting the NGO, requested from the NGO and were subsequently recommended. One significant finding was that both rural and urban dwellers reported low levels of requesting services related to domestic violence before contacting the NGO. The discussion centres on possible reasons for this finding and implications for future research.