Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of economic violence against women, specifically in formal sector micro-firms managed by women in Peru, a key Latin American emerging market. Additionally, the authors have identified the demographic characteristics of the micro-firms, financing and credit associated with women who suffer economic violence. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a structured questionnaire was administered to a representative sample nationwide (357 female micro-entrepreneurs). Findings The authors found that 22.2 percent of female micro-entrepreneurs have been affected by economic violence at some point in their lives, while at the same time 25 percent of respondents have been forced by their partner to obtain credit against their will. Lower education level, living with one’s partner, having children, business location in the home, lower income, not having access to credit, not applying credit to working capital needs, late payments and being forced to obtain credit against one’s will were all factors associated with economic violence. Furthermore, the results showed a significant correlation between suffering economic violence and being a victim of other types of violence (including psychological, physical or sexual); the highest correlation was with serious physical violence (r=0.523, p<0.01). Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is that the authors measured economic violence only in terms of misappropriation or theft of funds from the business, but not in terms of exacting control over economic resources, which can be a way of depriving the micro-entrepreneur of her autonomy in the management of the business. Practical implications The authors hope that the findings and conclusions reported here might open a renewed debate among academia, financial service providers, micro-firms, civil society and the public sector, providing a conceptual framework and a starting point to design effective, integrated and inter-sectoral prevention efforts. Social implications The authors recommend that efforts to reduce intimate partner violence be strengthened, taking into account the issue of gender inequality. It is not sufficient that social policy solely be designed to eliminate violence. Originality/value Previous research on gender violence has tended to examine the nature and causes of psychological, physical and sexual violence; this study, however, intends to contribute to the understanding of economic gender violence in the context of formal sector small business in a Latin American emerging market.

<p>El objetivo de la presente investigación fue determinar el efecto del ausentismo y presentismo sobre el rendimiento académico en los estudiantes de pregrado de las Escuelas de Negocios e Ingenierías en las Universidades Peruanas. El estudio se sustenta en una encuesta de autoreporte a 8,203 estudiantes de las escuelas de negocios e ingenierías de las universidades peruanas. Se emplearon escalas para analizar el ausentismo, presentismo y rendimiento académico que mostraron adecuadas propiedades psicométricas. Los resultados evidenciaron que el presentismo tiene un mayor impacto sobre el rendimiento académico disminuido de los estudiantes (β = 0.628) en comparación al ausentismo (β = 0.101). El ausentismo tiene un mayor efecto sobre los cursos y ciclos desaprobados (β = 0.163) y el presentismo sobre la evolución del rendimiento académico (β = -0.145).  Finalmente, mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales se demuestra la estructura causal de la disminución del rendimiento académico a partir del ausentismo y presentismo.</p>

This study aims to provide evidence that managers’ commitment towards preventing gender violence against women is affected by implicit resistance from the patriarchal culture. A structured questionnaire was given to 673 managers of 243 small, medium, and large private companies in Metropolitan Lima, Peru. We design and test a conceptual model using covariance-based structural equation modeling. Even though 90.3% of managers report being committed to and in favor of preventing gender violence in companies, 48.6% have intense implicit resistance against it. In general, 3 out of 4 managers do not believe in violence against women because they consider it “biased”, and think that policies should only talk about family or partner violence. In addition, 2 out of 4 believe that equality policies have “hidden interests” that generate mistrust. The structural equations show that implicit resistance, directly and indirectly, decreases managers’ commitment and actions towards preventing gender violence in organizations. Gender biases, irrational beliefs about sexual violence, and a lack of appreciation of gender equality strongly predict these resistances. Business involvement in the prevention of gender violence is a more complex process than expected, requiring a reinforced strategy aimed at overcoming managers’ implicit resistance.

This research reveals how domestic gender violence suffered by female teachers affects teacher–student school violence in the classroom. Based on a representative survey of 1,542 female professors in 95 public schools in the Callao metropolitan region of Peru using variance structural equation modelling, there is a strong positive relation found between both types of violence (β = 0.34), accompanied by the existence of mediating effects of morbidity and diminished workplace performance. These results demonstrate that in order to reduce the incidence of school violence we must not only address violence between educators and students, but also violence suffered by teachers at the hands of their domestic partner.

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.