Objective
To reflect upon possible differences between the terms “violence against women” and “women in a situation of violence” from the analysis of the occurrence of intimate partner violence.
Methods
It’s a cross-sectional study with a sample of 640 women, aged between 20 and 64, in four Health Family Units in the municipality of Nova Iguaçu (RJ). The instrument used was the Portuguese version for the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales, that evaluated the forms – and their intersection – physical, psychological and sexual violence suffered and perpetrated by women at least once in life.
Results
It has been estimated the prevalence of intimate forms of violence practiced against women (9.8%; IC95%: 7.5/12.1), by women (4.5%; IC95%: 2.9/6.1), and in the cases that the women was the victim or perpetrator of the acts (13.1%; IC95%: 10.5/15.7), it was assumed in this study as violence in couples.
Conclusion
In an attempt to better understand the dynamics of intimate partner violence, it would be useful to consider role mobility within the couple beyond the demarcation of genre – historical and sometimes immobilizing – between victim and assailant.
Violence; domestic violence; gender and health
