Intimate Partner Violence Among Latino Women: Rates and Cultural Correlates

• NCJ Number: 249074
• Author(s): Chiara Sabina, Carlos A. Cuevas, Elizabeth Zadnik
• Date Published: January 2015
• Length: 13 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Sexual Assasult Among Latinas (SALAS) Project

Annotation

The current study investigated the lifetime rate of intimate partner violence (IPV) against Latino women in terns of physical abuse, sexual abuse, stalking, and threats of harm, as well as the profile of abuse tactics used; further, the influence of immigrant status, Anglo orientation, Latino orientation, and the interaction of immigrant status and acculturation variables on IPV were examined.

Abstract

Although various forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) within the Latino community have been explored to some extent, the role of immigrant status and acculturation on IPV remains unclear. Results from the current study showed 15.6 percent of Latino women experienced IPV in their lifetime, and threat IPV was the most common form of IPV. Physical, sexual, stalking and threat IPV were all used as abusive tactics in various configurations. Logistic regression analyses showed immigrants were less likely than U.S. born Latino women to experience any IPV and physical IPV. Anglo orientation was associated with increased odds of any IPV and stalking IPV while Latino orientation was associated with decreased odds of all forms of IPV. Furthermore, the protective effect of Latino orientation for stalking IPV was pronounced among immigrants. Together the results show that one in six Latino women experience IPV and that sociocultural factors such as immigrant status and acculturation are important considerations for this group, underscoring the influence of migration and cultural adaptation to family functioning. Data came from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) study that gathered data from a national sample of Latino women (N = 2,000) via telephone interviews. (Publisher abstract modified)