Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the European Union: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Abstract. Attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) are increasingly recognized as central to understanding of this major social and public health problem, and guide the development of more effective prevention efforts. However, to date this area of research is underdeveloped in western societies, and in particular in the EU. The present study aims to provide a systematic review of quantitative studies addressing attitudes toward IPVAW conducted in the EU. The review was conducted through Web of Science, PsychINFO, Medline, EMBASE, PUBMED, and the Cochrane Library, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. This review aimed to identify empirical studies conducted in the EU, published in English in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2018, and analyzing attitudes toward IPVAW. A total of 62 of 176 eligible articles were selected according to inclusion criteria. Four sets of attitudes toward IPVAW were identified as the main focus of the studies: legitimation, acceptability, attitudes toward intervention, and perceived severity. Four main research themes regarding attitudes toward IPVAW emerged: correlates of attitudes, attitudes as predictors, validation of scales, and attitude change interventions. Although interest in this research area has been growing in recent years, the systematic review revealed important gaps in current knowledge on attitudes toward IPVAW in the EU that limits its potential to inform public policy. The review outlines directions for future study and suggests that to better inform policy making, these future research efforts would benefit from an EU-level perspective.

The Willingness to Intervene in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women (WI-IPVAW) Scale: Development and Validation of the Long and Short Versions

“…The length of questionnaires often prevents their inclusion in population surveys where space is limited and expensive, or in studies where time is an issue. Large-scale surveys tend to resort to single items addressing these attitudes or use a set of questions with unknown reliability or validity ( Richins, 2004 ; Gracia and Lila, 2015 ). On the other hand, shortened versions can have the drawback of limited reliability and validity, which makes it particularly important to ensure that short versions of questionnaires retain their psychometric soundness ( Smith et al, 2000 ; Stanton et al, 2002 ; Kovacs et al, 2017 ).…”

“…The development of the WI-IPVAW was based on an initial pool of 96 items. These items were developed from a review of European surveys addressing attitudes toward intervention in cases of violence against women ( Gracia and Lila, 2015 ), and other previous research addressing public attitudes and response preferences in cases of IPVAW ( Gracia and Herrero, 2006 ; Gracia et al, 2009 ). The item development and selection process was also informed by literature identifying scenarios where IPVAW also takes place, other than behind closed doors at home, and is witnessed by third parties ( Banyard and Moynihan, 2011 ; Hamby et al, 2015 ; Taylor et al, 2016 ).…”

“…An ecological model recognizes that beyond individual and relational explanatory levels, larger contextual and societal factors are central to understand IPVAW ( Heise, 1998 , 2011 ; World Health Organization [WHO], 2002 ; Gracia et al, 2015a ). As Gracia and Lila (2015 , p. 16) pointed out, ‘violence against women is a complex phenomenon that needs to be understood within the wider social context and within the social and cultural norms that permeate it.’ Public attitudes toward IPVAW shape the social context in which IPVAW takes place and play an important role in perpetuating the levels of this type of violence in our societies ( Carlson and Worden, 2005 ; Flood and Pease, 2009 ; Waltermaurer, 2012 ; Gracia and Lila, 2015 ; Copp et al, 2016 ; Powell and Webster, 2018 ). Public willingness to intervene when one becomes aware of a case of IPVAW reflects the level of tolerance and acceptance of this type of violence and can contribute either to deter or facilitate it ( Browning, 2002 ; Gracia and Herrero, 2006 ; Emery et al, 2011 ; Wright and Benson, 2011 ; World Health Organization [WHO], 2013 ; Jewkes et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Another reason to study and accurately measure public willingness to act in cases of IPVAW is that evidence suggests non-intervention attitudes are still quite prevalent, as shown in one report on attitudes toward violence against women in the EU ( Gracia and Lila, 2015 ). For example, data from surveys carried out in different countries indicate that a sizable number of respondents preferred not to get involved even if they were aware of a case of violence against women (“not my business,” or “is a private matter” were among the reasons given for not intervening).…”

“…Other studies assessing willingness to intervene have limited generalizability as they use small non-community samples (e.g., college students), and others instruments report low reliabilities ( Baldry and Pagliaro, 2014 ; Baldry et al, 2015 ; Cinquegrana et al, 2018 ). In addition, data from large population surveys on public attitudes toward intervention in cases of IPVAW are not usually based on measurement instruments with adequate reliability and validity, or rely on single items ( Gracia and Lila, 2015 ). Clearly, there is still a need for psychometrically sound instruments measuring willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW, appropriate for use with community samples, and suitable for large-scale surveys.…”