Intimate Partner Violence in El Salvador: A Relationship Between Femicide Attempts and Barriers to Help-Seeking

Abstract

Research has examined the relationship between femicides, understood as the killing of any woman, and intimate partner violence (IPV). Additionally, women have been found to seek out formal help when they deem their experiences to be severe, yet many reasons prevent them from doing so; hindering our ability to interrupt the cycle of violence and further victimization. Using the Salvadoran 2017 Violence Against Women National Survey, this study examines the relationships between femicide attempts, IPV, and formal help-seeking. We find a significant positive relationship between experiencing a femicide attempt and IPV, and specific reasons for not seeking formal help.

Keywords

femicide attempt intimate partner violence help-seeking formal help barriers

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bennett

Riger

Schewe

Howard

Wasco

(2004). Effectiveness of hotline, advocacy, counseling, and shelter services for victims of domestic violence: A statewide evaluation. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(7), 815–829. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504265687

Campbell

J. C.

Glass

Sharps

P. W.

Laughon

Bloom

(2007). Intimate partner homicide: Review and implications of research and policy. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 8(3), 246–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838007303505

Campbell

J. C.

Webster

Koziol-McLain

Block

Campbell

Curry

M. A.

Gary

Glass

McFarlane

Sachs

Sharps

Ulrich

Wilt

S. A.

Manganello

Schollenberger

Frye

Laughon

(2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1089–1097. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1089

Capellan

Kim

Porter

Sung

H.-E.

(2021). Can information about “safe places” reduce female victimisation in Honduras? A quasi-experimental evaluation of the safeWalking app. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 46(4), 357–370. htpps://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2021.1930564

Corradi

Marcuello-Servós

Boira

Weil

(2016). Theories of femicide and their significance for social research. Current Sociology, 64(7), 975–995. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392115622256

Devries

K. M.

Mak

J. Y. T.

Garcia-Moreno

Petzold

Child

J. C.

Falder

Lim

Bacchus

L. J.

Engell

R. E.

Rosenfeld

Pallitto

Vos

Abrahams

Watts

C. H.

(2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner violence against women. Science, 340(6140), 1527–1528.

Dobash

R. E.

Dobash

R. P.

(2011). What were they thinking? Men who murder an intimate partner. Violence Against Women, 17(1), 111–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210391219

Dobash

R. E.

Dobash

R. P.

Cavanagh

Medina-Ariza

(2007). Lethal and nonlethal violence against an intimate female partner: Comparing male murderers to nonlethal abusers. Violence Against Women, 13(4), 329–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801207299204

Dotson

Frydman

(2018). Neither security nor justice: Sexual and gender-based violence and gang violence in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. https://supportkind.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Neither-Security-nor-Justice_SGBV-Gang-Report-FINAL.pdf.

10.

Farr

K. A.

(2002). Battered women who were “being killed and survived it”: Straight talk from survivors. Violence and Victims, 17(3), 267–281. https://doi.org/10.1891/VIVI.17.3.267.33660

11.

Folger

S. F.

Wright

M. O. D.

(2013). Altering risk following child maltreatment: Family and friend support as protective factors. Journal of Family Violence, 28, 325–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9510-4

12.

Fugate

Landis

Riordan

Naureckas

Engel

(2005). Barriers to domestic violence help seeking: Implications for intervention. Violence Against Women, 11(3), 290–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801204271959

13.

García-Moreno

Pallitto

Devries

Stöckl

Watts

Abrahams

(2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. World Health Organization.

14.

Glass

Laughon

Rutto

Bevacqua

Campbell

J. C.

(2008). Young adult intimate partner femicide: An exploratory study. Homicide Studies, 12(2), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767907313303

15.

Global Americans. (2020). Femicide and international women’s rights. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://theglobalamericans.org/reports/femicide-international-womens-rights/

16.

Goodson

Hayes

B. E.

(2021). Help-seeking behaviors of intimate partner violence victims: A cross-national analysis in developing nations. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9–10). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518794508

17.

Goussinsky

Yassour-Borochowitz

(2012). “I killed her, but I never laid a finger on her” - A phenomenological difference between wife-killing and wife-battering. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(6), 553–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.07.009

18.

Hayes

B. E.

Franklin

C. A.

(2017). Community effects on women’s help-seeking behaviour for intimate partner violence in India: Gender disparity, feminist theory, and empowerment. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 41(1–2), 79–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2016.1233443

19.

Joseph

(2017). Victims of femicide in Latin America: Legal and criminal justice responses. Temida, 20(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.2298/tem1701003j

20.

Kaukinen

(2004). The help-seeking strategies of female violent-crime victims the direct and conditional effects of race and the victim-offender relationship. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(9), 967–990. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504268000

21.

Kim

Capellan

J. A.

Sung

H. E.

Orellana

E. R.

(2021). Combating IPV with community leaders in Honduras: An evaluation of an IPV training program among teachers and health professionals. Violence Against Women, 28(3–4), 991–1007. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012211008995

22.

Koziol-McLain

Webster

McFarlane

Block

C. R.

Ulrich

Glass

Campbell

J. C.

(2006). Risk factors for femicide-suicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. Violence and Victims, 21(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.21.1.3

23.

Liang

Goodman

Tummala-Narra

Weintraub

(2005). A theoretical framework for understanding help-seeking processes among survivors of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(1–2), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-6233-6

24.

Linos

Slopen

Berkman

Subramanian

S. V.

Kawachi

(2014). Predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to violence in Nigeria: A multilevel analysis to evaluate the impact of contextual and individual factors. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 68(3), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1136/JECH-2012-202187

25.

Macy

R. J.

Rizo

C. F.

Guo

Ermentrout

D. M.

(2013). Changes in intimate partner violence among women mandated to community services. Research on Social Work Practice, 23(6), 624–638. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731513490810

26.

Mahmud

Shah

N. M.

Becker

(2012). Measurement of women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh. World Development, 40(3), 610–619.

27.

McFarlane

Malecha

Gist

Watson

Batten

Hall

Smith

(2005). Intimate partner sexual assault against women and associated victim substance use, suicidality, and risk factors for femicide. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 26(9), 953–967. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840500248262

28.

McPhedran

Eriksson

Mazerolle

Johnson

(2018). Victim-focussed studies of intimate partner femicide: A critique of methodological challenges and limitations in current research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 39(January), 61–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.02.005

29.

Nicolaidis

Curry

M. A.

Ulrich

Sharps

McFarlane

Campbell

Gary

Laughon

Glass

Campbell

(2003). Could we have known? A qualitative analysis of data from women who survived an attempted homicide by an intimate partner. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(10), 788–794. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21202.x

30.

Osborn

Rajah

(s. f.). Understanding formal responses to intimate partner violence and women’s resistance processes: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(5), 1405–1419. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020967348

31.

Rizo

C. F.

Macy

R. F.

(2011). Help seeking and barriers of Hispanic partner violence survivors: A systematic review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(3), 250–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2011.03.004

32.

Robinson

S. R.

Ravi

Voth Schrag

R. J.

(2020). A systematic review of barriers to formal help seeking for adult survivors of IPV in the United States, 2005–2019. En Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 22(5), 1279–1295. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020916254

33.

Rowan

Mumford

Clark

C. J.

(2015). Is women’s empowerment associated with help-seeking for spousal violence in India. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515618945

34.

Sharps

P. W.

Campbell

Gary

Webster

(2001). The role of alcohol use in intimate partner femicide. American Journal on Addictions, 10(2), 122–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/105504901750227787

35.

Taylor

Nabors

E. L.

(2009). Pink or blue … black and blue? Examining pregnancy as a predictor of intimate partner violence and femicide. Violence Against Women, 15(11), 1273–1293. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209346714

36.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). (2019). Global Study on Homicide 2022: Booklet 1 - Gender-related killing of women and girls. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Booklet1.pdf

37.

Vatnar

S. K. B.

Bjørkly

(2013). Lethal intimate partner violence: An interactional perspective on women’s perceptions of lethal incidents. Violence and Victims, 28(5), 772–789. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00062