Reports of violence against women in different life cycles

Abstract

Objective to analyze the reports and factors associated with violence against women.Method this was a cross-sectional, exploratory and analytical study with information about the cases of reported violence, extracted from the Civil Police Report Bulletin, in a mid-sized city in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Results out of the 7,487 reports of violence against women, it was found that 44.6% of the cases were threats, 28.5% aggression, 25.1% bodily injury, 1.1% rape, and 0.7% some other type of injury. In the bivariate analysis, a higher number of cases (p=0.000) committed by partners was evidenced, for all kinds of violence except for rape. Children, adolescents and adults experienced violence by partners, followed by family members. Regarding older women, violence was committed by family members. Conclusion there is the need for programs to be established to prevent violence against women in various sectors of society, permeating the life cycle.

Violência contra mulheres em diferentes estágios do ciclo de vida no Brasil: um estudo exploratório

“…4,13 The average age of the victims was 35.72 (standard deviation -SD = 12.98; minimum 15 years; maximum: 94 years). Other studies developed in Brazil reported that adult women, generally between 20 and 49 years of age, represent the main victims of violence.…”

“…Other studies developed in Brazil reported that adult women, generally between 20 and 49 years of age, represent the main victims of violence. 4,16 This age range is characterized by an important life stage of the women, with relation to their reproductive period and their attention and care for their children. A participant population survey from Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women, which included 790 women who live with children from 5 to 12 years old, residents of the municipality of São Paulo, SP, and in Zona da Mata in Pernambuco, showed that there can be repercussions of the violence against the women in the behavior of the children, indicating the need to adopt effective measures to confront it.…”

“…4,16 From 20 to 50 years of age, partners represent the main aggressor agents, while over 60 years old, family members (especially children) and people they know (generally the caretakers) stand out in terms of the aggressor agent. 7 With the objective of tracing the profile of violence against women in accordance with sociodemographic characteristics of the victims and aggressors, a multivariable model was constructed using a decision tree (CHAID).…”

“…1,2 Violence against women covers cases that range from situations of psychological violence and threats to physical aggression. [3][4][5] In Brazil, the subject-matter has gained even more attention after the implementation of the federal Law number 11,340, which has the objective of punishing cases of violence between intimate partners. 6 In the first year of effective enforcement of this law, popularly known as the Maria da Penha law, the homicide rates against women experienced a small decrease; however, they immediately started growing substantially again until 2010, when a rate of 4.6 homicides for every 100 thousand women was registered, the largest number observed in the country until then 7 .…”

“…10 There are few studies in the literature about violence against women that deal with the differences in victimization in accordance with the cycles of life, using Police records as a data source. 4,13 Information relative to the distribution of violence against women and the identification of the most vulnerable populations can substantially contribute to the direction of efforts destined for the creation of public policy related to surveillance, criminalization, prevention, social assistance, and rehabilitation. 5 This study is one of the first in scientific literature that tried to trace the profile of violence against women in accordance with sociodemographic characteristics of the victims and aggressors through employment of the multivariable model of the decision tree, the Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID), which is a promising instrument for approaches to public health.…”