Help-Seeking in a National Sample of Victimized Latino Women: The Influence of Victimization Types

• NCJ Number: 241686
• Author(s): Carlos A. Cuevas, Chiara Sabina, Jennifer L. Schally
• Date Published: January 2012
• Length: 22 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Sexual Assasult Among Latinas (SALAS) Project

Annotation

This study aimed to examine formal and informal help-seeking responses to interpersonal victimization among a national sample of Latino women.

Abstract

The current study aimed to examine formal and informal help-seeking responses to interpersonal victimization among a national sample of Latino women. In addition, an examination of help-seeking by victimization type was undertaken. Data came from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) study that obtained help-seeking rates among a victimized subsample of Latino women (n = 714; 35.7 percent of a national sample). Results show a majority (76.6 percent) of the victimized participants engaged in some form of help-seeking with informal resources (68.9 percent) more often used than formal (32.5 percent). Medical attention was the type of formal help-seeking sought most often among victimized women who were injured (34.7 percent), and parents were the most common source of informal help-seeking (26.6 percent). However, logistic regression analyses show that help-seeking responses were significantly affected by type of victimization. Latino women who experienced childhood victimization were significantly less likely to engage in formal and informal help-seeking. Latino women who experienced stalking were significantly less likely to engage in formal help-seeking. Victimization with a weapon was significantly related to increased odds of formal help-seeking. Thus, women respond to violence in a way that is shaped by the dynamics of the victimization experience. Practice implications include the need to increase knowledge and availability of formal help-seeking venues. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.