Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) accounts for a large proportion of Latina homicides, however, research in this area is limited. Due to histories of collective trauma and distrust of formal institutions, such as courts or police systems, Latine communities often turn to informal support networks instead. These informal support networks bridge the gap to get survivors life-saving support and access to resources. The current qualitative study involved the analysis of 15 listening sessions and 13 key informant interviews, focusing on IPH prevention and the role of informal support networks. Participants (n = 90) included Latina survivors of intimate partner violence, advocates, and organizational leaders. Results from the listening sessions and key informant transcripts discuss the use of informal support networks, including their positive and negative aspects among Latina women. Findings suggest that, as part of the help-seeking process, survivors seek support from friends, family, and community leaders first and point to specific recommendations for engaging these informal networks in practice and improving the ways we engage community members for survivor support and response.

Keywords

informal support networks Latinas intimate partner homicide intimate partner violence qualitative

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

AbiNader

M. A.

Graham

L. M.

Kafka

J. M.

(2023). Examining intimate partner violence-related fatalities: Past lessons and future directions using U.S. national data. Journal of Family Violence, 38, 1243–1254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00487-2

Adelman

Rosenberg

K. E.

Hobart

(2016). Simulations and social empathy: Domestic violence education in the new millennium. Violence Against Women, 22(12), 1451–1462. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215625850

Alvarez

Fedock

(2018). Addressing intimate partner violence with Latina women: A call for research. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 19(4), 488–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838016669508

Ames

Hancock

T. U.

Behnke

A. O.

(2011). Latino church leaders and domestic violence: Attitudes and knowledge. Families in Society, 92(2), 161–167. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.4093

Avieli

(2025). “I wish he had hit me”: Female survivors’ retrospective insights into relationships with male partners who attempted to kill them. Psychology of Violence, 16(1), 90–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000617

Ayón

Marsiglia

F. F.

Bermudez-Parsai

(2010). Latino family mental health: Exploring the role of discrimination and familismo. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(6), 742–756. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20392

Bader

Doherty

Dumont-Smith

Guruge

Nepinak

Porteous

Campbell

Straatman

A. L.

Dawson

(2019). Creating safety plans with vulnerable populations to reduce the risk of repeated violence and domestic homicide (Domestic Homicide, No. 6). Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative. https://cdhpi.ca/creating-safety-plans-vulnerable-populations-reduce-risk-repeated-violence-and-domestic-homicide

Baeza

M. J.

De Santis

J. P.

Cianelli

Metheny

Villegas

Iriarte

(2024). Sources of well-being for Hispanic women who have experienced intimate partner violence: A scoping review. Hispanic Health Care International, 22(3), 178–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/15404153231210858

Block

C. R.

(2003). How can practitioners help an abused woman lower her risk of death? National Institue of Justice Journal, 250, 4–7.

10.

Bloom

T. L.

Perrin

Brown

M. L.

Campbell

Clough

Grace

K. T.

Laughon

Messing

Eden

K. B.

Turner

Glass

(2023). Concerned friends of intimate partner violence survivors: Results from the myPlan randomized controlled trial on college campuses. BMC Public Health, 23, 1033. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15918-y

11.

Brabeck

K. M.

Guzmán

M. R.

(2009). Exploring Mexican-origin intimate partner abuse survivors’ help-seeking within their sociocultural contexts. Violence and Victims, 24(6), 817–832. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.24.6.817

12.

Bronfenbrenner

(1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv26071r6

13.

Cahill

K. M.

Updegraff

K. A.

Causadias

J. M.

Korous

K. M.

(2021). Familism values and adjustment among Hispanic/Latino individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 147(9), 947–985. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000336

14.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2024). About violence prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/about/index.html

15.

Charmaz

. (2008). Grounded theory as an emergent method. In Hesse-Biber

S. N.

Leavy

(Eds.), Handbook of emergent methods (pp. 155–170). Guilford Press.

16.

Coker

A. L.

Smith

P. H.

Thompson

M. P.

McKeown

R. E.

Bethea

Davis

K. E.

(2002). Social support protects against the negative effects of partner violence on mental health. Journal of Women's Health & Gender-Based Medicine, 11(5), 465–476. https://doi.org/10.1089/15246090260137644

17.

Domenech Del Rio

Sirvent Garcia Del Valle

. (2019). Influence of intimate partner violence severity on the help-seeking strategies of female victims and the influence of social reactions to violence disclosure on the process of leaving a violent relationship. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(21-22), 4550–4571. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516676473

18.

Eriksson

Mazerolle

McPhedran

(2022). Giving voice to the silenced victims: A qualitative study of intimate partner femicide. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 645, 1–13.

19.

Esperanza United. (2023). A fatality review of Latin@ intimate partner homicides in the United States. Esperanza United.

20.

Frías

S. M.

Carolina Agoff

(2015). Between support and vulnerability: Examining family support among women victims of intimate partner violence in Mexico. Journal of Family Violence, 30, 277–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9677-y

21.

Funk

Lopez

M. H.

(2022). Hispanic Americans’ trust in and engagement with Science. Pew Research Center. PS_2022.06.14_hispanic-americans-science_REPORT.pdf

22.

Garza

A. D.

Macias

R. L.

Mercado Diaz

O’Connor

Nava

Guadalupe-Díaz

X. L.

(2024). Help-seeking barriers for Latinx victims of intimate partner homicide: Insight from survivors, advocates, and community practitioners. Homicide Studies, 28(3), 360–382.

23.

Glaser

B. G.

Strauss

A. L

. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine de Gruyter.

24.

Gonzalez-Guarda

R. M.

Ferranti

Halstead

Ilias

V. M.

(2016). Experiences with dating violence and help seeking among Hispanic females in their late adolescence. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 37(4), 229–238. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2016.1141341

25.

Goodman

L. A.

Epstein

Nnawulezi

Zhang

Hailes

Slocum

. (2023). Informal help-seeking in moments of acute danger: Intimate partner violence survivors’ emergency outreach efforts and the forces that shape them. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(5–6), 4742–4767. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221119517

26.

Jack

S. P.

Petrosky

Lyons

B. H.

Blair

J. M.

Ertl

A. M.

Sheats

K. J.

Betz

C. J.

(2018). Surveillance for violent deaths—National violent death reporting system, 27 states, 2015. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 67, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6711a1

27.

Johnson

I. D.

Belenko

(2021). Female intimate partner violence survivors’ experiences with disclosure to informal network members. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(15-16), n8082–n8100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519843282

28.

Krueger

R. A.

(1998). Developing questions for focus groups (Vols. 1–3). Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483328126

29.

Kurdyla

(2023). Disclosure experiences for transgender and nonbinary survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Homosexuality, 70(3), 473–496. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2021.1990687

30.

Kyriakakis

(2014). Mexican immigrant women reaching out: The role of informal networks in the process of seeking help for intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 20(9), 1097–1116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801214549640

31.

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

32.

López-Zerón

(2020). Conducting listening sessions with survivors of gender-based violence. Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium. https://www.dvevidenceproject.org/wp-content/plugins/pdf-poster/pdfjs-new/web/viewer.html?file=https://www.dvevidenceproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Conducting-Listening-Sessions-with-Survivors-of-Gender-based-Violence.pdfnobaki=falsez=autostdono=onlypdf=raw=fullscreen=1sidebarOpen=falseside=falseopen=falsehrscroll=

33.

Macias

R. L.

Garza

A. D.

Grajo

Nava

Guzman-Jimenez

Guadalupe-Díaz

X. L.

(2024). Intimate partner homicide prevention among Latinas: A qualitative study of risk and protective factors. Homicide Studies, 28, 341–359.

34.

Macias

R. L.

LeBrón

Taylor

Silva

(2021). Después de la tormenta: Collective trauma following Hurricane Maria in a northeastern Puerto Rican community in the United States. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(1), 118–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22442

35.

Messing

J. T.

AbiNader

Bent-Goodley

Campbell

(2022). Preventing intimate partner homicide: The long road ahead. Homicide Studies, 26(1), 91–105.

36.

Messing

J. T.

Amanor-Boadu

Cavanaugh

C. E.

Glass

N. E.

Campbell

J. C.

(2013). Culturally competent intimate partner violence risk assessment: Adapting the danger assessment for immigrant women. Social Work Research, 37(3), 263–275.

37.

Messing

J. T.

Campbell

J. C.

Brown

Patchell

Androff

D. K.

Wilson

J. S.

(2014). The association between protective actions and homicide risk: Findings from the Oklahoma Lethality Assessment Study. Violence and Victims, 29, 543–563.

38.

Moslimani

Mukherjee

(2024). Half of Latinas say Hispanic women’s situation has improved in the past decade and expect more gains. Pew Research Center. RE_2024.05.15_Latinas-Gains_REPORT.pdf

39.

Muralidharan

La Ferle

Howard

(2020). The role played by self-focused emotional ad appeals on intentions to call a domestic violence helpline: exploring guilt, hope, and the independent self-construal in an Indian context. Social Marketing Quarterly, 26(4), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524500420971585

40.

Natal

(2022). Intimate partner violence experiences among Puerto Rican mothers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(5-6), n2626–n2651. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520944556

41.

Ogbe

Harmon

Van Den Bergh

Degomme

(2020). A systematic review of intimate partner violence interventions focused on improving social support and/ mental health outcomes of survivors. PLoS One, 15(6), e0235177. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235177

42.

Perilla

J. L.

Serrata

J. V.

Weinberg

Lippy

C. A.

(2012). Integrating women's voices and theory: A comprehensive domestic violence intervention for Latinas. Women & Therapy, 35(1-2), 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/02703149.2012.634731

43.

Petrosky

Blair

J. M.

Betz

C. J.

Fowler

K. A.

Jack

S. P. D.

Lyons

B. H.

(2017). Racial and ethnic differences in homicides of adult women and the role of intimate partner violence—United States, 2003–2014. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 66, 741–746. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6628a1

44.

Postmus

J. L.

McMahon

Silva-Martinez

Warrener

C. D.

(2014). Exploring the challenges faced by Latinas experiencing intimate partner violence. Affilia, 29(4), 462–477. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109914522628

45.

Roditti

Schultz

Gillette

de la Rosa

(2018). Resiliency and social support networks in a population of Mexican American intimate partner violence survivors. Families in Society, 91(3), 248–256. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.4002

46.

Rowh

Jack

(2024). Notes from the field: Intimate partner homicide among Women — United States, 2018–2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 73, 754–756. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7334a4

47.

Sabina

Cuevas

C. A.

Schally

J. L.

(2011). Help-seeking in a national sample of victimized Latino women: The influence of victimization types. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(1), 40–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260511416460

48.

Sabina

Cuevas

C. A.

Schally

J. L.

(2012). The cultural influences on help-seeking among a national sample of victimized Latino women. American Journal of Community Psychology, 49, 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-011-9462-x

49.

Sabri

Nnawulezi

Njie-Carr

V. P. S.

Messing

Ward-Lasher

Alvarez

Campbell

J. C.

(2018). Multilevel risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence among African, Asian, and Latina immigrant and refugee women: Perceptions of effective safety planning interventions. Race and Social Problems, 10, 348–365.

50.

Serrata

J. V.

Hernandez-Martinez

Macias

R. L.

(2016). Self-empowerment of immigrant Latina survivors of domestic violence: A promotora model of community leadership. Hispanic Health Care International, 14(1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540415316629681

51.

Serrata

J. V.

Macias

R. L.

Rosales

Hernandez-Martinez

Rodriguez

Perilla

J. L.

(2017). Expanding evidence-based practice models for domestic violence initiatives: A community-centered approach. Psychology of Violence, 7, 158–165. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000051

52.

Stöckl

Devries

Rotstein

Abrahams

Campbell

Watts

Moreno

C. G.

(2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner homicide: A systematic review. Lancet, 382, 859–865. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61030-2

53.

Sylaska

K. M.

Edwards

K. M.

(2014). Disclosure of intimate partner violence to informal social support network members: A review of the literature. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 15(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838013496335

54.

Sylaska

K. M.

Edwards

K. M.

(2015). Disclosure experiences of sexual minority college student victims of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Community Psychology, 55(3-4), 326–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9717-z

55.

Treves-Kagan

Ruvalcaba

Corry

D. T.

Ray

C. M.

V. D.

Lee

R. D.

Siordia

Mercado

M. C.

Estefan

L. F.

Vera

T. M.

Kearns

M. C.

Mercer Kollar

L. M.

Satter

D. E.

Penman-Aguilar

Montero

J. T.

(2024). Intimate partner violence–related homicides of Hispanic and Latino persons — National Violent Death Reporting System, United States, 2003–2021. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 73(9), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss7309a1

56.

Ullman

S. E.

(1996). Social reactions, coping strategies, and self-blame attributions in adjustment to sexual assault. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20(4), 505–526. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1996.tb00319.x

57.

Ullman

S. E.

(2000). Psychometric characteristics of the social reactions questionnaire: A measure of reactions to sexual assault victims. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 257–271. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2000.tb00208.x

58.

Ullman

S. E.

(2023). Correlates of social reactions to victims’ disclosures of sexual assault and intimate partner violence: A systematic review. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 24(1), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211016013

59.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)., & UN Women. (2025). Femicides in 2024: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides. United Nations. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/11/femicides-in-2024-global-estimates-of-intimate-partner-family-member-femicides; https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/femicides-2023-global-estimates.pdf

60.

Valentini

Pinucci

Pasquini

(2021). Empathy regulation in crisis scenario. In Biondi

Pasquini

(Eds.), Empathy, normalization and De-escalation (pp. 31–55). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65106-0_3

61.

Vega

Durfee

Messing

(2021). Entre mujeres platicamos: The role of informal social networks among Latina survivors of intimate partner violence. In Lopez

Pasko

(Eds.), Latinas in the criminal justice system: Victims, targets, and offenders (pp. 19–41). New York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479804634.003.0002

62.

Woerner

Wyatt

Sullivan

T. P.

(2019). If you can’t say something nice: A latent profile analysis of social reactions to intimate partner violence disclosure and associations with mental health symptoms. Violence Against Women, 25, 1243–1261. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218811681

63.

Yoshioka

M. R.

Gilbert

El-Bassel

Baig-Amin

(2003). Social support and disclosure of abuse: Comparing South Asian, African American, and Hispanic battered women. Journal of Family Violence, 18, 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1023568505682

Informal Support Networks Among Latinas: A Culturally Relevant Strategy in Addressing Intimate Partner Homicide

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References