Violence With Femicide Risk: Its Effects on Women and Their Children

Abstract

The objective of this study is to assess the effects that a specific type of severe violence—violence with femicide risk (VFR)—has on women’s physical and mental health, as well as the physical health of their children. I focus on Peru, a country in which 7 out of 10 women have been victims of some form of intimate partner violence. In Latin America, Peru is one of the countries with the highest rates of violence against women. Methodological gaps in the existing literature (sampling size, selection bias, and reverse causality) are covered using an important nationally representative sample (Demographic and Health Survey: N = 84,136) and the use of propensity score matching. Results show that VFR increases symptoms of depression, as well as alcohol and tobacco consumption. The children of victims of VFR had significantly more recent episodes of bloody stool, diarrhea, fever, and coughing. These effects are heterogeneous. They vary based on violence characteristics (history of sexual violence) and on victims’ socioeconomic status. According to the relevant literature, these effects can be understood to stem from somatization, stress, substance use (as a facilitator of violence), and neurological damage due to exposure to this type of violence. Results suggest VFR may have life-course altering effects given victims’ distinct coping strategies.