The objective of this descriptive study is to present the profile of women who were assisted at a women's care center in Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil, and to characterize the cases in relation to types of violence, main complain, environment where the violence occurred and the woman-perpetrator relationship. Information extracted from the records of women assisted in 2001 was processed using the Epi Info software, version 6.04. Of a total of 470 records analyzed, the mean age of the women was 34. The majority (47.2%) reported to be married, 54% had one or two children and 38.7% declared to be responsible for their families. Emotional abuse was the main form of violence (56.4%), followed by physical violence (32.1%). The main perpetrators of violence against women were their own current husband or intimate partner (73.4%) and their house was the space where the majority of episodes of violence occurred. Given the complexity of the problem, which is associated to the social construction of the roles of men and women in the society and to the inequality in gender relations, it can be concluded that the provision of services to attend women who are victimized by violence is of vital importance and that these services should be articulated with health services in the development of preventive actions in order to provide comprehensive care to women.
Violence; Battered Women; Domestic Violence; Women's Health
