Intimate Partner Violence Against Women Research Articles

Low sadness and high happiness facial prevalence to others' suffering in intimate partner violence against women perpetrators: influence of emotional decoding deficits

AbstractAn aligned facial response to others' emotions has been linked to adaptive social interactions. Interestingly, maladjusted emotional response has been recognized as a significant risk factor for intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW). However, the facial response of IPVAW perpetrators to others' negative emotions remains unclear. The present study analyzes the emotional facial response, as well as self-reported emotions, of IPVAW perpetrators (n = 55) compared to controls (n = 48) during a violence-focused empathic induction task using the "FaceReader" facial coding software. Additionally, we explored the emotional decoding influence on their emotional facial responsiveness. Compared to controls, IPVAW perpetrators exhibited a lower prevalence of sadness facial expression and a higher prevalence of happiness facial expressions during the task, along with reduced self-reported emotionality. Coherently, the lower the sadness facial expression, the lower the self-reported sadness and tenderness. Finally, poorer emotional decoding and belonging to the IPVAW group explained the lower prevalence of sadness and higher prevalence of happiness facial expressions. Our findings provide further evidence supporting a distinctive emotional response pattern to others’ suffering in IPVAW perpetrators. This study provides a promising direction to address the IPVAW occurrence by treating relevant socioaffective deficits, such as emotional responsiveness or emotional decoding.

Intimate Partner Violence: Factors that Influence Court Decisions in Addis Ababa City Administration

The judiciary, due to its pivotal position, has the potential to play a crucial role in safeguarding women from intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite this, there exists a lack of research on the adjudication of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) cases in Ethiopia. This article aims to identify the factors that influence the decision-making process and the final judgments delivered by the judiciary in IPVAW cases within the Addis Ababa City Administration. A qualitative research method was employed as a general research approach to gather data from purposively selected victims/survivors and duty-bearers within the purposively selected sub-cities of Addis Ababa. Primary data were gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, courtroom observations, and court case analysis. The research revealed that various legal, institutional, social, and cultural frameworks present in the study area significantly impact the adjudication of IPVAW cases. These can be categorized into factors directly related to the legal framework of the country and those that go beyond the black letters of the law. The findings suggest the need for a multi-faceted approach to address these factors, including strengthening the legal framework of the country, providing capacity-building training for actors, and raising public awareness about the gravity of the act.

Unpacking Police Endorsement of Myths Surrounding Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: Formation and Implications.

Drawing on a qualitative case study consisting of interviews with Danish police trainees, patrol officers, and police detectives, this article explores police endorsement of myths surrounding male-perpetrated intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and its influence on police response to IPVAW incidents. The findings show that police officers begin to believe in the myths to cope with negative emotions arising from repeated exposure to IPVAW victims, who do not behave according to expected norms of being cooperative, responsible, and innocent. This makes police officers meet victims with skepticism, low spirit, and hopelessness, making them refrain from initiating further criminal investigations, opening criminal cases, and pursuing arrests.

A vignette study analysing factors influencing attributions of responsibility to victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women

Evidence shows that blaming attitudes towards victims of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) are widespread, creating a social climate that condones this form of violence. The aim of the current study is to analyse the potential impact of multiple factors surrounding the scenario and some personal and attitudinal characteristics of the respondents on the responsibility attributed to victims and perpetrators of IPVAW. To achieve this, a factorial survey design in which each respondent (N = 1,007; 51.1% women) received a unique vignette describing a hypothetical case of IPVAW was implemented in an online survey conducted in Spain. We found that most respondents (78.9%) indicated that the victim was not at all responsible for her own victimisation, whereas 73.7 per cent indicated that the perpetrator was very responsible for his own behaviour. Our results also show the prominent role that attitudes, as opposed to many characteristics of the abuse, play in evaluations of victim blame (that is, sexist beliefs and acceptability of IPVAW). Our findings reveal some persistence of victim-blaming attitudes despite years of public awareness and education efforts in Spain.

Adult Attachment Questionnaire: evidence of validity in a sample of IPVAW offenders.

Adult attachment can be understood as a cognitive and emotional system concerning oneself and others, based on previous attachment experiences throughout life. This system automatically affects relationships with others. Because of its importance in the interpersonal domain, it has been studied on numerous occasions in research on intimate partner violence. The aim of this study was to obtain evidence of validity of the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) in a sample of 331 men convicted of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW). The AAQ assesses adult attachment style in four dimensions that, together, yield four attachment categories. A psychometric analysis was performed, including reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis of the items, which ratified the factorial structure of the questionnaire. For a correct fit of the model, it was necessary to eliminate 4 of the items from the original scale. A latent profile analysis was also carried out, which identified four attachment styles: secure, preoccupied/anxious, avoidant/dismissing and fearful. Reliability indices were adequate. In general, the attachment profiles obtained ranges and means similar to those found in the general population study. The distribution of attachment styles was not equal: 50.57% of the participants presented secure attachment, 4.57% avoidant/dismissing attachment, 36.9% preoccupied/anxious, and 8.57% fearful. In conclusion, a valid and reliable instrument was determined based on the original AAQ scale to measure attachment in men convicted of IPVAW.

Drivers of men's use of intimate partner violence in conflict-affected settings: learnings from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is prevalent in conflict-affected settings. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the risk factors that influence men's use of IPVAW in conflict-affected settings. This paper adopts a transdisciplinary perspective to understand how experiences hypothesized to increase men's use of IPVAW relate to each other and to men's use of IPVAW. The findings may help researchers and interventionists to better select and target interventions for IPVAW in conflict-affected settings. We used baseline data from the Tushinde Ujeuri project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Men with at least partial data for the variables of interest were included in the analysis (n = 2080). We estimated a structural equation model that explored how five constructs - interpersonal violence, mental health, socioeconomic adversity, gender inequitable attitudes, and conflict violence - influenced men's self-reported past-year use of physical and/or sexual IPVAW. The model had acceptable fit (χ2 = 1576.574, p = 0.000; RMSEA = 0.041; CLI = 0.882; SRMR = 0.055). There was a statistically significant path from interpersonal violence to IPVAW (β = 0.875; OR = 2.40). Interpersonal violence also was linked to gender inequitable attitudes (β = 0.364), which were linked to increased use of IPVAW (β = 0.180; OR = 1.20). Moreover, interpersonal violence was linked to trauma symptoms (β = 0.331), which were linked to increased use of IPVAW (β = 0.238; OR = 1.27). Use of IPVAW decreased as conflict exposures increased (β=-0.036; OR = 0.96), and there was no path from socioeconomic adversity to IPVAW. Our findings suggest interpersonal violence exposures, trauma symptoms, and gender inequitable attitudes are all risk factors for the use of IPVAW in a conflict-affected setting. While continuing to focus on gender inequitable attitudes and norms, interventionists should also consider addressing men's experiences of victimization and mental wellbeing. Doing so can help to improve trauma symptoms and may hold promise to reduce IPVAW in conflict-affected settings.

Personality Comparison between Lethal and Non-lethal Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators and Their Victims.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and femicide (intimate partner femicide, IPF), as a worldwide phenomenon, cannot be explained in a simple way. From an ecological point of view, there are individual factors contemplated. In the current studies, we consider personality as an individual factor to clarify what differentiates a non-lethal IPVAW situation from a femicide. Study 1 was designed to investigate the accuracy with which trained interviewers judged the personality of a group of IPVAW perpetrators during an interview. The target sample of study 1 was composed of 293 males who after being interviewed completed a measure of personality assessing the "Big Three" model of personality. The interviewers performed fairly accurate judgements about the personality of the target participants. Study 2 shows the differences in personality, using Eysenck's personality model, between the IPF and IPVAW perpetrators and their victims. The total sample study 2 was formed of 551 participants distributed among IPF perpetrators, IPVAW perpetrators, and the victims of both groups. Differences in proportions were observed between both groups of perpetrators as well as between each group and their respective victims. With these findings, we propose personality as a femicide risk factor that should be taken into consideration by police officers and other practitioners when receiving an IPVAW report.

Judging the Severity of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: The Role of Situational Factors and Respondents’ Characteristics in Public Opinion

Public perceptions of the severity of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) play a crucial role in its prevention. This study examines the impact of multiple factors related to the scenario and respondent characteristics on the perceived severity of IPVAW. To achieve this, a factorial survey design was implemented using a non-probability-based sample in Spain ( N = 1007). The results indicate that 90.3% of respondents rated the scenario as severe. The perceived severity was influenced by both the details of the scenario and the characteristics of the respondents. These findings can inform the design of targeted awareness campaigns.

Associations Between Internet and Traditional Media Usage and Users’ Attitudes Toward Wife-Beating in Nigeria

This study quantitatively examines the associations between the Internet and traditional media (e.g., television, radio, newspapers) usage and users’ attitudes toward wife-beating in Nigeria. Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey involving 13,311 men (aged 15 to 59 years) and 41,821 women (aged 15 to 49 years) were analyzed using multiple logistic regression models. The central question was whether frequent Internet and traditional media users significantly differed in their attitudes toward wife-beating justification compared to individuals who seldom used these media channels in Nigeria. The results showed that Nigerian online media users were substantially less likely to approve of wife-beating compared to their non-users. However, for traditional media usage, only radio usage was significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of wife-beating approval among women. Newspaper usage was associated with a higher level of justification, while television was not significantly related to wife-beating support. This study emphasizes the need for the Nigerian media channels to effectively join the international campaigns seeking to eliminate intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW).

Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Latin America: A Systematic Review.

Attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) are being increasingly recognized as a central issue for comprehensively understanding this complex phenomenon. While IPVAW remains widespread in Latin America, knowledge about it and research on attitudes toward IPVAW are limited. This systematic review synthesized quantitative peer-reviewed studies that address attitudes toward IPVAW in Latin America. The review was conducted between April 2020 and July 2022 in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations using the Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases. In total, 52 of the 149 eligible articles were selected based on the inclusion criteria. Four sets of attitudes toward IPVAW were identified: legitimacy, acceptability, attitudes toward the intervention, and perceived severity. Attitude correlates were the most common research topic in more than half of the studies but were generally focused on a single country. Among the few multi-country studies, the sample of Latin American countries was small. The remaining studies were divided into three research themes: attitude as a predictor, interventions for attitude change, and scale validation. Our study aims to motivate future research on the identified knowledge gaps and may be useful for the implementation of appropriate prevention policies and intervention programs to counter IPVAW on a regional scale.

Transformative effect of intimate partner violence against women based on sociocultural factors trapping women in a violent relationship

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most frequent type of violence experienced by women, with devastating consequences for their physical and mental health. Due to exposure of women to the violence, their perceptions and interpretations of the situation may be distorted, making it difficult to leave the violent relationship. Exploring the obstacles that women must confront to verbalize their situation or ask for help is critical in preventing IPV against women (IPVAW). For this purpose, two studies were implemented: Study 1 included a focus group of seven victims of IPVAW and Study 2 included 550 women (n = 258 suffering IPVAW and n = 292 not suffering IPVAW). In Study 1, women reported that perceptions (e.g., minimization of the situation), interpretations (e.g., justifying the aggressor), and feelings (e.g., guilt) were the main obstacles in leaving a violent relationship. Study 2 revealed that participants who suffered IPVAW obtained lower scores in perceived severity, and attribution of responsibility to the aggressor, as well as higher scores in feelings of embarrassment and guilt than those who had not suffered IPVAW. No significant differences were found in risk assessed and feelings of fear. These findings highlight the serious consequences of exposure to IPVAW, requiring the implementation of preventive programs to address the distortion of reality due to the aggressor’s manipulation, as well as the influence of sociocultural factors on the construction of women’s roles in relationships.

Intrinsic neural network dynamics underlying the ability to down-regulate emotions in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women

Research has pointed to difficulties in emotion regulation as a risk factor for perpetrating intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW). While efforts have been made to understand the brain mechanisms underlying emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal, little is known about the intrinsic neural dynamics supporting this strategy in male perpetrators. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to characterise the network dynamics underlying reappraisal. Spectral dynamic causal modelling was performed to examine the effective connectivity (EC) within a predefined reappraisal-related brain network. 26 men convicted for an IPVAW crime [male perpetrators] were compared to 29 men convicted of other crimes [other offenders] and 29 men with no criminal records [non-offenders]. The ability to down-regulate emotions in response to IPVAW stimuli was used as a covariate to explore its association with male perpetrators' EC. The analysis revealed that (1) compared to non-offenders, both convicted groups exhibited increased EC within prefrontal areas, enhanced EC from prefrontal to temporoparietal regions and decreased EC in the opposite direction; (2) male perpetrators compared to other offenders showed increased EC from temporoparietal to prefrontal regions and, increased EC from the supplementary motor area to frontal areas; (3) connections involving dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were found to be potential predictors of the ability to down-regulate emotions. The study provides a deeper characterisation of the brain architecture of the processes that underlie IPVAW. This knowledge could inform the work of adaptive emotion regulation strategies in intervention programmes for male perpetrators in order to reduce the high recidivism rates.

The Role of Honour in Tolerance to Intimate Partner Violence against Women in Sri Lanka

The current study aimed to examine the role of the type of honour endorsement (masculine, feminine, family, moral integrity) in the tolerance to intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in Sri Lanka. Three hundred and sixty-two Sri Lankan participants completed an online questionnaire. Results revealed that feminine honour and masculine honour were positively associated with, and moral integrity was negatively associated with, tolerance to IPVAW. Results also showed that men were more likely to tolerate IPVAW than women, and women were more likely to endorse feminine honour and family honour than men. The results suggest that specific typefacesnour play a predictive role in tolerance to IPVAW along with gender differences that are in line with cultural and gendered norms.

Intimate Partner Violence Against Women and Workplace Productivity in the Financial Sector of Two Latin American Societies.

This research determines the prevalence of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and its impact on labor productivity in the financial sector of two Latin American countries. Nine financial institutions participated in this study with surveys of 892 female employees in Bolivia and 393 in Paraguay. The results revealed that 40.1% in Bolivia and 18.7% in Paraguay experienced IPVAW. In Bolivia, this resulted in 6.686 lost workdays per year due to absenteeism and 7.640 workdays per year due to presenteeism (present but distracted). In Paraguay, 12.035 days were lost to absenteeism and 12.037 to presenteeism. This pioneering research highlights the significant influence of IPVAW on financial sector productivity and its broader economic implications.

Content analysis of public stigma on intimate partner violence against women in a sample of Spanish university students..

Public stigma on intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is still present among university students and hinders victim recovery. The aims were to: 1) Analyze public stigma in university students using content scales found in the literature, distinguishing between general negative attitudes towards IPVAW and those when asked about a known situation of violence, and 2) Determine the reliability of those scales. A sample of 37 students (age, M=25.54; SD=3.44) at the University of Seville completed a survey based on the selected content scales. Response content was analyzed. Attitudes were related to myths exonerating the abuser, the majority belief that victims' actions for recovery were detachment strategies, and a catastrophic perception of the consequences of violence. Attitudes changed after knowing a victim. Most scales were reliable (Kappa > 0.7). Stigma toward IPVAW was present, but to a lesser extent when the situation of violence was known. The implications of this study and future lines of research were discussed.

Self-Efficacy and Well-Being in Professionals Working in Intimate Partner Violence: Recovery Experiences and Burnout as Associated Variables.

The negative consequences of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) are observed not only in the victims but also in the professionals who work in this field. Self-efficacy has been observed as a significant variable in the perception of work efficiency and general well-being, and in coping with work-related stress and burnout syndrome. Thus, we performed a correlational study (N = 200) to examine the mediating role of recovery experiences and emotional exhaustion in the relationship between self-efficacy and psychological well-being in these professionals. The mediating analyses revealed that self-efficacy was related to higher levels of well-being through its effects on the increase in recovery experiences and the decrease in burnout levels. These findings emphasize the need to develop intervention programs aimed at improving self-efficacy these professionals. This is necessary to improve their employment situations, increase their health, and optimize both institutional resources and the quality of the services offered.

Using machine learning-based systems to help predict disengagement from the legal proceedings by women victims of intimate partner violence in Spain.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVW) is a pressing social issue which poses a challenge in terms of prevention, legal action, and reporting the abuse once it has occurred. However, a significant number of female victims who file a complaint against their abuser and initiate legal proceedings, subsequently, withdraw charges for different reasons. Research in this field has been focusing on identifying the factors underlying women victims' decision to disengage from the legal process to enable intervention before this occurs. Previous studies have applied statistical models to use input variables and make a prediction of withdrawal. However, none have used machine learning models to predict disengagement from legal proceedings in IPVW cases. This could represent a more accurate way of detecting these events. This study applied machine learning (ML) techniques to predict the decision of IPVW victims to withdraw from prosecution. Three different ML algorithms were optimized and tested with the original dataset to assess the performance of ML models against non-linear input data. Once the best models had been obtained, explainable artificial intelligence (xAI) techniques were applied to search for the most informative input features and reduce the original dataset to the most important variables. Finally, these results were compared to those obtained in the previous work that used statistical techniques, and the set of most informative parameters was combined with the variables of the previous study, showing that ML-based models had a better predictive accuracy in all cases and that by adding one new variable to the previous work's predictive model, the accuracy to detect withdrawal improved by 7.5%.

Prevalence and Determinants of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Burundi: Evidence from 2016-17 Demographic and Health Survey

Background: Intimate Partner Violence against Women (IPVAW) is a human rights and public health problem worldwide and is associated with negative consequences for the mother, family, and community. The study aims to determine the prevalence and determinants of intimate partner violence among married women in Burundi, to inform strategies and programs to reduce domestic violence. Methods: This study consists of the secondary analysis of the 2016-17 Burundi Demographic and Health Survey. The study population consisted of 6014 married women, interviewed using the domestic violence questionnaire. The research applied Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression to identify the factors influencing IPVAW in Burundi, at a 95% statistical significance. Results: The study established the overall prevalence of IPVAW at 48.4%, whereas physical violence was 37.0%, sexual violence 24.4% and emotional violence 22.9%. Intimate partner violence varies by background characteristics of the women. The multivariate analysis identified as risk factors to IPVAW the age of the woman, the province of residence, the number of children ever born, the discordance within the couple on the number of children desired, the childhood experience of parental violence, the husband's controlling behaviour, the husband drinking alcohol and husband's age. Conclusion: IPVAW is high in Burundi. Social, economic and cultural factors are some of the predictors of the high prevalence. These factors should constitute the basis for designing programmes and policies aimed at reducing IPVAW.

Researching Intimate Partner Violence Against Women (IPVAW): Overcoming Gender Blindness by Improving Methodology in Compliance with Measurement Standards

Intimate Partner Violence Against Women (IPVAW) has been defined as a violation of human rights and a serious public health problem rooted in social inequality between women and men. Nevertheless, a significant amount of scientific literature on the topic of IPVAW continues to exclude the gender perspective in both research design and the interpretation of results, despite its conceptual and explanatory relevance. This paper considers certain gender-blind practices in the research on IPVAW. Based on this analysis, we propose explicitly stating the theoretical assumptions inherent in the definition of the construct and clarifying the intended interpretation for measures, so that they can be incorporated into the analysis of validity, and we argue in favor of the need for interdisciplinary studies based on multicausal explanatory models, which incorporate the category gender as a transversal explanatory factor of this type of violence, as well as multi-method approaches, with the aim of overcoming issues of construct underrepresentation and construct-irrelevant variance.

High Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Young Adulthood: Is Prevention Failing?

In the last decades, prevention measures have been taken globally to reduce the high prevalence of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in our societies. As a consequence, a gradual reduction in the prevalence of IPVAW in the younger generations should be expected. However, international prevalence data suggest that this is not the case. In the present study, we aim to compare IPVAW-prevalence rates across age groups in the adult population in Spain. We used data from the Spanish 2019 national survey based on 9,568 interviews with women, reporting IPVAW in three time periods: lifetime, the last 4 years, and the last year. To ensure accurate comparisons of IPVAW-prevalence rates across age groups, we first examined the psychometric properties, and measurement invariance of the set of questions addressing the different types of IPVAW (i.e., physical, sexual, psychological) in this survey. Results supported a three-factor latent structure addressing psychological, physical, and sexual IPVAW, showing high-internal consistency and validity evidence. For lifetime prevalence, the youngest age groups (18-24 years) were those with the highest latent mean in psychological and physical IPVAW, with those aged 25 to 34 years having the highest score in sexual IPVAW. Women aged 18 to 24 years showed the highest factor scores in the three types of violence during the last 4 years and during the last year. A number of potential explanatory hypotheses are proposed to better understand the high prevalence of IPVAW among younger generations. The reason why IPVAW prevalence remains alarmingly high among young women, despite the preventive measures taken in recent years, is a research question that remains open. Prevention efforts should target younger generations if IPVAW is to be eradicated in the long term. However, this goal will only be achieved if those prevention efforts prove to be effective.