Women's strategic responses to violence in Nicaragua

Abstract

Study objective-To describe the responses of women in León, Nicaragua to partner abuse and identify contextual factors associated with the use of certain coping mechanisms and the likelihood of permanent separation. Design-Cross sectional populationbased survey. Setting-León, Nicaragua. Participants-188 women 15-49 years of age who had experienced physical partner abuse, out of 488 women interviewed. Main results-66% of women defended themselves eVectively from abuse either physically or verbally. Forty one per cent of women had left home temporarily because of violence and 20% had sought help outside the home. Women experiencing severe abuse were more likely to leave or seek help, whereas women with less severe abuse were more able to defend themselves eVectively. Seventy per cent of women eventually left abusive relationships. Help seeking and temporary separations increased the likelihood of a permanent separation, whereas women who defended themselves and were able to stop the violence, at least temporarily, were more likely to remain in abusive relationships. Conclusions-Women in Nicaragua use a variety of methods in order to overcome physical partner abuse. Temporary leaving and help seeking are critical steps in the process of leaving a violent relationship. However, many women indicated that they did not receive support for their situation. More interventions are needed to help women recognise and deal with violence, as well as strengthening the community support networks available to abused women. (J Epidemiol Community Health 2001;55:547-555) The physical abuse of women by intimate partners is a global problem with serious consequences for the health and well being of women and children. International studies indicate that worldwide, between 20%-50% of women experience wife assault, and approximately 3%-25% of women are assaulted by partners during pregnancy.1-3 Physical abuse is often accompanied by sexual coercion, and nearly always occurs within the context of extreme jealousy and marital control. [4][5][6][7][8] According to Dobash and colleagues, partner abuse is "often persistent and severe, occurs in the context of continuous intimidation and coercion and is inextricably linked to attempts to dominate and control women."9 The documented consequences of physical, emotional and sexual violence on women's health include chronic pain, injury, depression and suicide, and increased risk of reproductive health problems and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Physical partner violence, women’s economic status and help-seeking behaviour in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania

“…Much has been written in the literature about women separating from their partner when the violence is severe [10,11,14]. This study conforms to this finding and the reasons women gave for seeking help or leaving the relationship were because they ‘could not endure the violence any more’ or because they had received serious injuries.…”

“…The majority of women had told someone, predominantly family or friends, about their experiences of violence – a finding that dispels a common assertion about the extent to which partner violence against women is hidden. The proportion of women seeking help, approximately 40% in both sites, is also higher than that reported in urban and rural Bangladesh and Nicaragua [11,14]. Help-seeking from formal institutions (police, hospital, legal services and social protection e.g.…”

“…The emphasis on employment as the route out of abuse is, however, argued to be simplistic and culture and context are said to determine women’s ability to act on their behalf [22–26]. Instead, studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) have found education, rather than employment, to be the empowering resource enabling women to separate [11,14,25]. The reason for this could be that higher-educated women are less likely to tolerate violence or that they are able to establish greater networks such as links to local organisations [11,25].…”

Superación de la violencia de pareja: revisión

“…Como conclusión los autores encontraron que la violencia física y el aumento en la severidad del abuso son factores determinantes para que la mujer se vuelva consciente de su situación y decida emprender acciones concretas para superarla. Ellsberg, Winkvist et al (2001) por medio de un estudio analítico transversal, realizaron entrevistas a 488 mujeres en Nicaragua entre los 15 y 49 años de edad en 1995, buscando como objetivo describir cuáles eran las acciones o respuestas de ellas frente a una pareja abusiva, los mecanismos de afrontamiento y la tendencia de una separación definitiva. Las 183 mujeres que habían sufrido una experiencia de violencia física propinada por su pareja fueron identificadas por medio de la Conflict Tactics Scale y luego se les realizó una encuesta sobre las características y circunstancias de la violencia, preguntándoles además de si habían solicitado ayuda externa, habían dejado el hogar o se habían defendido como respuesta a esta violencia.…”

“…Las personas desarrollan diversas estrategias activas en esta dinámica, que se facilitan si se empoderan. La duración del proceso de superación puede ser de una duración muy variable que en los artículos revisados fluctúa entre uno y veintiséis años (Ellsberg et al, 2001;Edin et al, 2010;Nayback-Beebe y Yoder, 2012 A pesar de los planteamientos sobre el proceso necesario para terminar una relación violenta y de las opciones para ponerle fin, no se encuentra información en la literatura que haga referencia a que sucede cuando las personas sobrevivientes pasan por todo este proceso y logran dejar la relación, teniendo en cuenta que se describe que la violencia de pareja trae consigo consecuencias severas que pueden atentar contra el bienestar físico, mental y económico de las personas que logran salir de ella (Wortham, 2014).…”