Abstract
Women are often the victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Though China has established its first statute against domestic violence, the service developments for victims fall behind. It is important to assess community members' perceptions of what causes IPV to create interventions to prevent and address IPV. This study completed the Short Explanatory Model Interview (SEMI) among a subset sample from a large epidemiology study in rural Sichuan China. The social ecological model was applied to analyze qualitative interviews. Among 339 participants, the average age was 46.01 ± 12.42 years old. There were 31.86% of them had been educated, 14.75% of them had migrant worker partners, and 49.26% of them had experienced violence from their partners in the last year. There were 252 participants attributed IPV to individual factors, and they primarily discussed the social characteristics, behaviors, personalities or even health problems of the husband or the wife in the vignette. Under this theme, there were 86 participants blaming the victim for being anxious, social disconnectedness or lazy; and there were 166 participants blaming to the perpetrator being abusive, irresponsibility, lack of understanding, and cheating. There were 44 women believed the cause was relational, in which there were 41 participants attributed the problem to the broken relationship between the couple and three participants attributed to the lack of support. There were 28 participants believed the cause was communal and societal, such as being poor, family problems, fate, and believed IPV was a common scene. There were 15 participants could not identify the cause of IPV. These participants usually provided very brief responses and barely had insight on violent behaviors or confidence in discussing the cause. Our findings offer a direction for understanding the rural Chinese women's beliefs about the etiology of IPV to better develop interventions which must consider raising a public awareness campaign about the risk factors of IPV and focus on reducing self-blame among victims.
Highlights
This study of intimate partner violence (IPV) in China occurs against an international backdrop of service developments for victims during the past half-century
This study focused on the vignette section of the Short Explanatory Model Interview (SEMI)
We reported 15 participants who provided very brief responses and appeared to barely have insight on violent behaviors or confidence in discussing the cause; 252 participants attributed the conflicts to individual problems; 44 women believed the cause was relational; and 28 participants attributed the cause of IPV to communal and societal factors
Summary
This study of intimate partner violence (IPV) in China occurs against an international backdrop of service developments for victims during the past half-century. According to the WHO [2], the lifetime prevalence of this major public health problem ranges from 13 to 61% globally for women; despite being a fundamental violation of human rights, it often has been ignored internationally despite decades of calls for greater recognition of the health and social needs of women It is in this context that some countries have taken the lead to develop needed resources for victims [3]. There have been initiatives to create medicine–law partnerships that offer coordinated, comprehensive services for victims at a single site, including the emergence of Family Justice Centers [8]. Despite all these services, many victims never seek help for myriad reasons. Asking for help by reaching outside one’s family may not be consistent with long-held cultural beliefs of perceived norms
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
