Public Helping Reactions to Intimate Partner Violence against Women in European Countries: The Role of Gender-Related Individual and Macrosocial Factors

Celia Serrano-Montilla, Inmaculada Valor-Segura, José-Luis Padilla and Luis Manuel Lozano
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Celia Serrano-Montilla: Department of Methodology for Behavioral Sciences, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Inmaculada Valor-Segura: Department of Social Psychology, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
José-Luis Padilla: Department of Methodology for Behavioral Sciences, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Luis Manuel Lozano: Department of Methodology for Behavioral Sciences, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: Public helping reactions are essential to reduce a victim’s secondary victimization in intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) cases. Because gender-related characteristics have been linked widely to IPVAW prevalence, the study aimed to examine individual attitudes and perceptions toward different forms of violence against women, as well as gender-related macrosocial ideological and structural factors, in explaining helping reactions to IPVAW across 28 European countries. We performed multilevel logistic regression analysis, taking measures from the Eurobarometer 2016 ( N = 7115) and the European Institute for Gender Equality datasets. Our study revealed a greater individual perceived IPVAW prevalence, positive perception about the appropriateness of a legal response to psychological and sexual violence against women partners, and less VAW-supportive attitudes predicted helping reactions (i.e., formal, informal), but not negative reactions to IPVAW. Moreover, individuals from European countries with a greater perceived IPVAW prevalence and gender equality preferred formal reactions to IPVAW. Otherwise, in the European countries with lesser perceived IPVAW prevalence and negative perceptions about the appropriate legal response to psychological and sexual violence, people were more likely to provide informal reactions to IPVAW. Our results showed the role of gender-related characteristics influenced real reactions toward known victim of IPVAW.

Keywords: intimate partner violence against women; helping reaction; gender-related factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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