Las redes de apoyo como recurso ante la violencia de pareja

Abstract

Introduction: Violence against women, exercised by their partner, is one of the main problems in our country; although the state has created preventive programs and laws (Constitución de la República del Ecuador, Lay Orgánica Intercultural para Prevenir y Erradicar la Violencia) to counteract these unjustified acts, the statistics continue to increase. From Bowen's proposed transgenerational approach, we consider violence against women to be linked to patterns that are structured in families of origin. The purpose of this research is to identify support networks, and how they influence decision-making. Materials and methods: This research is descriptive in type and was conducted on 75 women who went to a public institution to seek help. The focus of our research is quantitative and was done considering three moments: planning, application of measuring instruments and feedback. The instrument used is the Couple and Stereotype Support Questionnaire (UISEK-Ecuador/University of Guadalajara, as well as a semi-structured interview. Results: The data produced by the questionnaire show the small network of support available to women victims of intimate partner violence. On the other hand, the data obtained in the semistructured interview showed that there was violence on the part of the family of origin. Conclusion: transgenerational violence by parents, older siblings and observed in close relatives is evident. These women also have a small support network (two to five people), however, we believe that a large and strengthened support network would help reduce statistics and prevent violence.