Women's Perceptions and Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence in the Resettled Community of Villa Guadalupe in Managua, Nicaragua: A Qualitative Study Public

Abstract

Background: 35% of women worldwide have experienced either intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime (WHO, 2014). Intimate partner violence is especially prevalent in Latin America, with prevalence rates ranging from 17% to 53% (Bott, Guedes, Goodwin, & Mendoza, 2012). Little qualitative research has been done in Managua, Nicaragua exploring women's perceptions and experiences of violence, and even less so in informal, resettled communities such as Villa Guadalupe.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in Villa Guadalupe, a resettled community on the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua to explore women's perceptions and experiences of intimate partner violence, in order to provide recommendations to address these issues in the Villa Guadalupe. In depth interviews were conducted with 20 women from this community. Data were analyzed to understand how women understand, experience, and respond to intimate partner violence within their communities.

Results: Qualitative interviews revealed several themes pertaining to how women perceive and experience violence. Emergent themes included control over one's life, for the children, masoquismo, el marido no es padre, social support, victim-blaming, and legal matters. Participants also provided recommendations for future programming including having charlas, educational seminars, and counseling sessions with psychologists.

Discussion: In conjunction with the Socio-Ecological Model and the Social Cognitive Theory, findings reveal that there is an interaction across various levels that shape women's understanding, experience, and response to violence. Cultural factors such as machismo and masoquismo, which portray social norms, along with themes of lack of social support and negative community attitudes, provide insight into how women understand and respond to violence. A critical next step for the Villa Guadalupe community, and particularly for health and development organizations within the community such as Manna Project International, is to move toward establishing education and intervention programs aimed at youth and adolescents, fostering community support and women empowerment, engaging boys and men in the dialogue of intimate partner violence, and targeting social norms that perpetuate gender inequality and intimate partner violence.

Table of Contents

Chapter I. Introduction

Introduction and Rationale.....................................................................................1

Violence Against Women in Nicaragua.....................................................................1

Theoretical Framework...........................................................................................2

Villa Guadalupe and MPI.........................................................................................3

Formal Statement of Problem..................................................................................5

Chapter II. Review of the Literature

Global Statistics......................................................................................................7

IPV as a Public Health Problem................................................................................7

Theories of Intimate Partner Violence......................................................................9

Utilizing an Ecological Framework for Understanding IPV.........................................12

The Case for Nicaragua...........................................................................................16

Chapter III. Methods

Study Design Overview............................................................................................20

Participants............................................................................................................21

Instrumentation......................................................................................................21

Procedure...............................................................................................................22

Data Preparation and Analysis..................................................................................22

Chapter IV. Results

Participant Characteristics......................................................................................24

Control Over One's Life...........................................................................................26

For the Children......................................................................................................27

Masoquista.............................................................................................................28

El Marido no es Padre..............................................................................................30

Social Support.........................................................................................................33

Victim-Blaming.......................................................................................................36

Legal Matters..........................................................................................................38

Chapter V. Discussion and Recommendations

Summary of Findings and Discussion........................................................................42

Recommendations...................................................................................................47

Limitations.............................................................................................................50

Conclusion..............................................................................................................51

References..............................................................................................................52

Appendices

Appendix A..............................................................................................................60

Appendix B..............................................................................................................61

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Behavioral Sciences and Health Education
Degree	MPH
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health Psychology, Behavioral Health Sciences, Mental Health
Mot-clé	social support Intimate Partner Violence Latin America Qualitative Research Mental Health
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Berg, Carla, Emory University Andes, Karen, Emory University
Partnering Agencies	International Non-governmental organization (e.g., CARE, Inc.)

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