Gender-based violence continues to undermine women's well-being globally, particularly in Latin America, where sociocultural norms sustain unequal power relations. However, these patterns are often excluded from empirical analyses. This study develops a structural index based on the ecological framework—individual, microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem levels—to identify economic and sociocultural risk factors associated with violence against women. The index is applied to Peru, where 54.9% of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced domestic violence. This integrative approach constitutes an original contribution to devising targeted strategies for addressing violence against women and informing culturally sensitive public policies.
AbramskyT.DevriesK. M.KissL.FranciscoL.NakutiJ.MusuyaT.KyegombeN.StarmannE.KayeD.WattsC. H. (2012). A community mobilisation intervention to prevent violence against women and reduce HIV/AIDS risk in Kampala, Uganda (the SASA! Study): Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial. Trials, 13(96). https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6215-13-96
2.
AliP.GavinoM. (2008). Violence against women in Pakistan: A framework for analysis. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 58(4), 198–203.
3.
AndersonK.BergenfeldI.CheongY.MinhT.YountK. (2022). Childhood maltreatment class and sexually violent behavior among university men in Vietnam. SSM – Population Health, 18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101103
4.
BaiocchiM.FriedbergR.RosenmanE.Amuyunzu-NyamongoM.OgudaG.OtienoD.SarnquistC. (2019). Prevalence and risk factors for sexual assault among class 6 female students in unplanned settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. PLOS ONE, 14(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213359
BlitchteinW.Reyes-SolariE. (2012). Factores asociados a violencia física reciente de pareja hacia la mujer en el perú, 2004-2007. Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública, 29(1), 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1726-46342012000100006
7.
BoeckelM.Blasco-RosC.Grassi-OliveiraR.MartinezM. (2014). Child abuse in the context of intimate partner violence against women: The impact of women's depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms on maternal behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(7), 1201–1227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513506275
8.
BronfenbrennerU. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
9.
BukulukiP.KisaakyeP.Bulenzi-GulereG.MulindwaB.BaziraD.LetiyoE.NamirembeH.SchmidtI.KakandeP.NisslingS. (2023). Vulnerability to violence against women or girls during COVID-19 in Uganda. BMC Public Health, 23, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14951-7
10.
CampbellA.KuskoffE.BaxterJ.LoxtonD. (2025). The Road to Unfreedom: Violence and Multidimensional Poverty Among Young Australian Women. Violence Against Women. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012251347607
11.
CaoJ.LeeC.LiuX.Gonzalez-GuardaR. (2023). Risk and protective factors associated with intimate partner violence against Chinese women: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 24(2), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211030235
12.
CapaldiD.KnobleN.ShorttJ.KimH. (2012). A systematic review of risk factors for intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 231–280. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.2.e4
13.
DalalK.YasminM.DahlqvistH.KleinG. (2022). Do electronic and economic empowerment protect women from intimate partner violence (IPV) in India?BMC Women’s Health, 22, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-02110-4
14.
EbertC.SteinertJ. (2021). Prevalence and risk factors of violence against women and children during COVID-19, Germany. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 99(6), 429–438. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.20.270983
15.
Elboj-SasoC.Iñiguez-BerrozpeT.Valero-ErrazuD. (2022). Relations with the educational community and transformative beliefs against gender-based violence as preventive factors of sexual violence in secondary education. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), 578–601. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520913642
FitzpatrickS.BrewB.HandleyT.PerkinsD. (2022). Men, suicide, and family and interpersonal violence: A mixed methods exploratory study. Sociology of Health & Illness, 44(6), 991–1008. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13476
18.
FornellC.LarckerD. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
19.
García-MorenoC.JansenH.EllsbergM.HeiseL.WattsC. (2006). Prevalence of intimate partner violence: Findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence. Lancet, 368(9543), 1260–1269. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69523-8
20.
GibbsA.DunkleK.RamsoomarL.WillanS.ShaiN.ChatterjiS.NavedR.JewkesR. (2020). New learnings on drivers of men's physical and/or sexual violence against their female partners, and women's experiences of this, and the implications for prevention interventions. Global Health Action, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2020.1739845
21.
HairJ.ArthorH. (2007). Research methods for business. Wiley.
22.
HardiesK. (2023). Prevalence and correlates of sexual harassment in professional service firms. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1082088
23.
HaylockS.BoshariT.AlexanderE.KumarA.ManikamL.PinderR. (2020). Risk factors associated with knife-crime in United Kingdom among young people aged 10-24 years: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09498-4
HenryD.FarrellA.SchoenyM.TolanP.DymnickiA. (2011). Influence of school-level variables on aggression and associated attitudes of middle school students. Journal of School Psychology, 49(5), 481–503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.04.007
26.
HenselerJ.RingleC. M.SarstedtM. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
27.
HuR.XueJ.LinK.SunI.WangX. (2019). Bidirectional intimate partner violence among Chinese women: Patterns and risk factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(21-22). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519888523
IyandaA.BoakyeK.OlowofesoO.LuY.GilesJ. (2021). Determinants of gender-based violence and its physiological effects among women in 12 African countries. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(21-22). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519888536
32.
JewkesR.LevinJ.Penn-KekanaL. (2002). Risk factors for domestic violence: Findings from a South African cross-sectional study. Social Science & Medicine, 55(9), 1603–1617. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00294-5
33.
Jiwatram-NegrónT.El-BasselN.PrimbetovaS.TerlikbayevaA. (2018). Gender-based violence among HIV-positive women in Kazakhstan: Prevalence, types, and associated risk and protective factors. Violence Against Women, 24(13), 1570–1590. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801217741218
34.
JungariS.ChauhanB.BombleP.PardhiA. (2022). Violence against women in urban slums of India: A review of two decades of research. Global Public Health, 17(1), 115–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1850835
35.
KaufmanM.WilliamsA.GriloG.MareaC.FentayeF.GebretsadikL.YedenekalS. (2019). “We are responsible for the violence, and prevention is up to us”: A qualitative study of perceived risk factors for gender-based violence among Ethiopian university students. BMC Women's Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-019-0824-0
36.
LeeB.YooM. (2015). Family, school, and community correlates of children's subjective well-being: An international comparative study. Child Indicators Research, 8(1), 151–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9285-z
37.
MarquinaP.AvolioB.Del CarpioL.FajardoV. (2021). Índice de desarrollo social de la mujer y el hombre en las regiones del Perú 2021. PUCP. bit.ly/3KIblBb.
38.
MarquinaP.Del CarpioL.FajardoV. (2022). Índice de competitividad de las regiones del Perú 2022: Impacto de la pandemia en la competitividad regional. PUCP. bit.ly/43xr0Mt.
39.
Martín-FernándezM.GraciaE.LilaM. (2018). Assessing victim-blaming attitudes in cases of intimate partner violence against women: Development and validation of the VB-IPVAW scale. Psychosocial Intervention, 27(3), 133–143. https://doi.org/10.5093/pi2018a18
40.
McCartyC.ZimmermanF.DigiuseppeD.ChristakisD. (2005). Parental emotional support and subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems among children. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 26(4), 267–275. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004703-200508000-00002
41.
McDougalL.DehingiaN.BhanN.SinghA.McAuleyJ.RajA. (2022). Opening closed doors: Using machine learning to explore factors associated with marital sexual violence in a cross-sectional study from India. BMJ Open, 11(12). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053603
42.
MengistuA. (2019). Socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing women's attitude toward wife beating in Ethiopia. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(15), 3290–3316. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519842179
MooreB.ClementsC.TurtonE. (2023). Intimate partner violence victimization, mental health, and unemployment: Year one of the COVID-19 pandemic. Violence Against Women, 30(14), 3474–3497. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231182413
45.
MulunehM.FrancisL.AghoK.StulzV. (2021). A systematic review and meta-analysis of associated factors of gender-based violence against women in sub-saharan Africa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094407
46.
Muñoz-MartínezA.Aguilar-CachoR. (2021). Using functional analytic psychotherapy strategies for supporting Latinas victims of interpersonal partner violence. Papeles del Psicólogo, 43(1), 74–80. https://doi.org/10.23923/pap.psicol.2980
47.
Nagashima-HayashiM.Durrance-BagaleA.MarzoukM.UngM.LamS.NeoP.HowardN. (2022). Gender-based violence in the Asia-pacific region during COVID-19: A hidden pandemic behind closed doors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042239
48.
NihelH.LatifaM.AjinaA.GuezelR.MlayehS.MajdoubW.JedidiM.SouiS.MohamedB. (2021). Characteristics of violence against women in kairouan, Tunisia, in 2017. Libyan Journal of Medicine, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19932820.2021.1921900
49.
NuñezA.GonzálezP.TalaveraG.Sanchez-JohnsenL.RoeschS.DavisS.ArguellesW.WomackV.OstrovskyN.OjedaL.PenedoF.GalloL. (2015). Machismo, marianismo, and negative cognitive-emotional factors: Findings from the hispanic community health study/study of latinos sociocultural ancillary study. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 4(4), 202–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000050
50.
PannehM.GafosM.NyarikiE.LikuJ.ShahP.WanjiruR.WanjiruM.BeksinskaA.PollockJ.JamaZ.BabuH.KaulR.SeeleyJ.BradleyJ.KimaniJ.BeattieT. (2022). Mental health challenges and perceived risks among female sex Workers in Nairobi, Kenya. BMC Public Health, 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14527-5
51.
ParkS.KoY. (2020). Victims of intimate partner violence in South Korea: Experiences in seeking help based on support selection. Violence Against Women, 27(3-4), 320–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220905638
52.
Parra-CardonaJ.MeyerE.SchiambergL.PostL. (2007). Elder abuse and neglect in latino families: An ecological and culturally relevant theoretical framework for clinical practice. Family Process, 46(4), 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2007.00225.x
53.
RahmanM.HoqueA.MakinodaS. (2011). Intimate partner violence against women: Is women empowerment a reducing factor? A study from a national Bangladeshi sample. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 411–420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-011-9375-3
54.
ReedE.RajA.MillerE.SilvermanJ. (2010). Losing the “gender” in gender-based violence: The missteps of research on dating and intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 16(3), 348–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209361127
55.
SafaN.SharplesR.DunnK. (2023). The impact of stereotypical constructions of masculinity among the Rohingya population living in the Kutupalang Rohingya camp in Bangladesh. Gender, Technology and Development, 27(2), 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2022.2161126
56.
SandovalL.Jiménez-BaézM.RoviraG.VitalO.PatF. (2017). Intimate partner violence. Types and risk in primary care health users in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Atención Primaria, 49(8), 465–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aprim.2016.09.013
57.
SarstedtM.HairJ.Jun-HwaC.BeckerJ.RingleC. (2019). How to specify, estimate, and validate higher-order constructs in PLS-SEM. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 27(3), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2019.05.003
58.
SemahegnA.MengistieB. (2015). Domestic violence against women and associated factors in Ethiopia; systematic review. Reproductive Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-015-0072-1
59.
SemenzaD.RoofK.James-HawkinsL.CheongY.NavedR.YountK. (2019). Gender-equitable parental decision making and intimate partner violence perpetration in Bangladesh. Journal of Marriage and Family, 81(4), 920–935. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12579
SultanaR.Ozen-DursunB.Femi-AjaoO.HusainN.VareseF.TaylorP. (2023). A systematic review and meta-synthesis of barriers and facilitators of help-seeking behaviors in south Asian women living in high-income countries who have experienced domestic violence: Perception of domestic violence survivors and service providers. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 24(5), 3187–3204. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221126189
62.
SzuseckiT.ThegeB.StauderA. (2023). The prevalence and mental health correlates of exposure to offensive behaviours at work in Hungary: Results of a national representative survey. BMC Public Health, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14920-0
63.
ThobejaneT. (2019). Effects of gender-based violence towards young females: The case of Vhufuli village in Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province-South Africa. Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 8, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-7092.2019.08.06
64.
TirunehF.ChuangK.NtendaP.ChuangY. (2018). Unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and other risk factors for intimate partner violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Women & Health, 58(9), 983–1000. https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2017.1377800
65.
Un Women. (2021). Research brief - intimate partner violence in five CARICOM countries: Findings from National Prevalence Surveys on Violence Against Women. https://caribbean.unwomen.org/ sites/default/files/2022-02/20201009%20CARICOM%20Research%20Brief%205.pdf.
66.
UthmanO.LawokoS.MoradiT. (2009). Factors associated with attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women: A comparative analysis of 17 sub-Saharan countries. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-698X-9-14
67.
Valencia-GarcíaD.StarksH.StrickL.SimoniJ. (2008). After the fall from grace: Negotiation of new identities among HIV-positive women in Peru. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 10(7), 739–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050802213563
68.
VanderEndeK.SibleyL.CheongNavedR.YountK. (2015). Community economic status and intimate partner violence against women in Bangladesh: Compositional or contextual effects?Violence Against Women, 21(6), 679–699. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215576938
69.
ViejoC.ValenzuelaG.RuizR. (2018). Adult partner violence and previous violence experiences: Retrospective study with women victims of gender-based violence. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 18(2), 179–192. https://www.ijpsy.com/volumen18/num2/489.html.
70.
Vílchez-RománC. (2016). Research on spousal violence: Toward a balanced and rigorous approach. American Journal of Public Health, 106(5). https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2015.302966
71.
Vives-CasesC.Parra-CasadoD.EstévezJ.Torrubiano-DomínguezJ.Sanz-BarberoB. (2021). Intimate partner violence against women during the COVID-19 lockdown in Spain. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 18(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094698
VyasS.JansenH.HeiseL.MbwamboJ. (2015). Exploring the association between women's access to economic resources and intimate partner violence in Dar es Salaam and mbeya, Tanzania. Social Science & Medicine, 146, 307–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.016
World Economic Forum. (2022). Global Gender Gap Report 2022. bit.ly/43JYtTJ.
77.
ZhuY.DalalK. (2010). Childhood exposure to domestic violence and attitude towards wife beating in adult life: A study of men in India. Journal of Biosocial Science, 42(2), 255–269. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021932009990423
