Defining Power and Agency in Gender Relations in El Salvador: Consequences for Intimate Partner Violence and Women's Mental Health.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects thousands of women around the world and is prevalent in the Global South. Unequal social structures perpetuate hierarchies and maintain women's vulnerability to violence. Difficulties women face in accessing education, economic resources, and employment diminish their power in intimate relationships, increasing the likelihood of IPV. These factors can also have a significant effect on women's mental health. However, some studies show that economic empowerment does not necessarily translate into greater agency for women if they cannot use the resources they earn to pursue whatever goals or values they regard as important in life. Agency is women's ability to identify their life goals and act upon them through critical evaluation (intrinsic agency) and autonomous decision-making (instrumental agency). In this article, we aim to analyze the relationship between women's power (educational and economic) and agency and their influence on intimate partner violence and on women's mental health in the context of El Salvador. Currently, El Salvador has one of the highest percentages of femicide worldwide. We used data from the first national survey on violence against women in El Salvador to determine empowerment indicators and investigated their influence on intimate partner violence and women's mental health. Results from a representative sample of 1,274 women aged between 15 and 64 years old and, using a structural equation modeling revealed that education was a protective factor against IPV, but economic power appeared to put women at greater risk of IPV. Education was positively related to both intrinsic and instrumental agency, but only instrumental agency was negatively associated with the likelihood of being a victim of IPV. Finally, both intrinsic and instrumental agencies were positively related to women's mental health. We discuss the importance of identifying specific factors related to women's power and agency to prevent IPV and mental health problems and to promote more gender equity in the Global South.

Mental Health Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in El Salvador.

Violence against women (VAW) is currently one of the main problems in El Salvador, which leads the ranking of femicides in the world. We conducted the first national survey on VAW in El Salvador following the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology, to determine the impact of violence on women's mental health (N = 1,274). Women who had experienced intimate partner violence showed significantly poorer mental health and more suicidal ideations. Common mental disorders were significantly associated with the experience of all forms of violence, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables and stressful life experiences. The results are discussed in connection with the primary care protocols and the design of public policies.

Prevalence and Sociodemographic Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in El Salvador.

Violence against women is currently one of the major problems in El Salvador. However, the country lacks existing data to address this issue. The recent coming into effect of the Ley Especial Integral para una Vida Libre de Violencia para las Mujeres (LEIV) [Comprehensive Law for a Life Free of Violence Against Women] urgently calls for the dimensions of the problem to be understood. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of physical, sexual, emotional, and controlling violence, which Salvadoran women aged 15 to 64 years suffer at the hands of their current partners or ex-partners, and the association of such violence with sociodemographic factors. The target population of the study is composed of Salvadoran women aged 15 to 64, from which a representative sample of 1,274 women was obtained. The results reveal that 54.4% of Salvadoran women reported having suffered some type of physical, sexual, or psychological violence during their lives. Psychological control (41.2%) was the most frequent form of violence, followed by emotional violence (39%), physical violence (22.5%), and sexual violence (13.3%). Women's number of children, marital status, and age were the main factors associated with violence. This study provides information needed to develop victim care measures and training programs for professionals. The study also provides evidence of the impact of public policies and prevention programs already in place.

Violence Against the Indigenous Women: Methodological and Ethical Recommendations for Research.

The importance of more countries contributing to precise and comparable statistics on violence against women (VAW) is undeniable. Methodological adaptation is a very important aspect to increase the probability of women disclosing violence and safeguard their integrity. Research on VAW adapted to ethnic populations is scarce. Colombia has great ethnic diversity and is the country in the region with the second highest percentage of women reporting having suffered physical or sexual violence. However, statistics on VAW are limited, and no guidance or recommendations exist with respect to adapting the VAW research protocol to indigenous communities with unique forms of social organization. The indigenous Nasa community functions as a small society with its communal organization, own social norms, and indigenous customary law. In addition, the indigenous Nasa population has a worldview that is reflected in the way women suffer and face violence and discrimination. This article is based on a pilot survey that adapts and implements the WHO multicountry study's survey methodology on women's health and domestic VAW in three resguardos (communal lands) of the Nasa indigenous community in Colombia. The goal is to contribute to and improve the methodological adaptation of VAW research to cultural diversity, and simultaneously attempting to obtain high-quality data that can be comparable at the national and international levels. Recommendations for adaptation, ethical considerations, challenges, and implications for future studies with indigenous populations are discussed.

Herramientas para prevenir la violencia de género: implicaciones de un registro diario de situaciones de desigualdad de género / Tools for gender violence prevention: implications of keeping records of everyday situations of gender inequality / Ferramentas para prevenir a violência de gênero: implicações de um registro diário de situações de desigualdade de gênero

Em El Salvador, a violência contra as mulheres e os feminicídios são os problemas mais graves que afetam o país. Embora nos últimos anos tenham sido promovidas algumas mudanças legislativas e diferentes políticas públicas, a sensibilização e a consciência sobre as desigualdades de gênero na sociedade em seu conjunto têm avançado mais lentamente do que as mudanças estruturais. Por isso, fazem-se urgentes o desenho de programas de formação e prevenção de violência de gênero e a sua validação bem como o uso de ferramentas úteis para a interiorização dessas mudanças. Neste trabalho, propõe-se uma ferramenta de registro de situações cotidianas de desigualdade de gênero que foi empregada num programa de prevenção de violência de gênero, cuja avaliação se fez por meio de um desenho quase-experimental (De Lemus, Navarro, Megías, Velásquez e Ryan, 2014), que buscava cumprir com o primeiro de seus objetivos: aumentar a consciência sobre as desigualdades de gênero na vida cotidiana. Discutem-se os resultados qualitativos obtidos a partir dessa metodologia baseada em outros estudos (Becker e Swim, 2011) e de acordo com os resultados obtidos na aplicação do programa a fim de reduzir as crenças sexistas e a discriminação de gênero.

Violence against women and feminicides are some of the most severe problems in El Salvador. During the last few years, some legislative changes as well as changes in matters of public policies have taken place; however, increasing sensitivity and awareness on gender inequality in society have not matched the structural changes. Given this context, the design and validation of violence prevention and promotion programs is mandatory, as well as the implementation of useful tools for the internalization of these changes. The main objective of this paper is to propose a tool for keeping records of everyday situations of gender inequality. This instrument has been already used in a gender-based violence prevention program (De Lemus, Navarro, Megías, Velásquez & Ryan, 2014, whose evaluation was done through a quasi-experimental design and sought to achieve one of its goals: to increase awareness on gender inequalities in everyday situations. Qualitative results of this methodology based on other studies (Becker and Swim, (2011) are discussed, with the aim of reducing the existing sexist beliefs and gender discrimination.

En El Salvador, la violencia contra las mujeres y los feminicidios son los problemas más graves que azotan el país. Aunque en los últimos años se han promovido algunos cambios legislativos y diferentes políticas públicas, la sensibilización y conciencia sobre las desigualdades de género en la sociedad en su conjunto han avanzado más lentamente que los cambios estructurales. Por esto, se hace urgente el diseño y la validación de programas de formación y prevención de violencia de género, así como el uso de herramientas útiles para la interiorización de estos cambios. En el presente trabajo se propone una herramienta de registro de situaciones cotidianas de desigualdad de género que fue empleada en un programa de prevención de violencia de género, cuya evaluación se hizo a través de un diseño cuasi-experimental (De Lemus, Navarro, Megías, Velásquez y Ryan, 2014), y que buscaba cumplir con el primero de sus objetivos: incrementar la conciencia sobre las desigualdades de género en la vida cotidiana. Se discuten los resultados cualitativos obtenidos a partir de dicha metodología basada en otros estudios (Becker y Swim, 2011) y al tenor de los resultados obtenidos en la aplicación del programa, con el fin de reducir las creencias sexistas y la discriminación de género.

Legitimidad y desempeño en el trabajo: cuando el derecho legitima y el merecimiento cualifica / Legitimacy and efficacy at work: when entitlement legitimizes and deservingness qualifies

El modelo estructural del merecimiento () establece dos factores que afectan a las percepciones de legitimidad: el derecho (merecer algo por cumplir las normas establecidas para ello) y el merecimiento (merecerlo por las acciones pasadas realizadas). A pesar de la relevancia de ambos factores, trabajos previos muestran conclusiones diferentes respecto a qué factor es un mejor predictor de la legitimidad. El objetivo de este artículo es explorar la influencia de estos factores al juzgar la legitimidad y las consecuencias positivas asociadas a la elección de un aspirante para un puesto de poder. Los resultados mostraron que mientras que un candidato con derecho para ocupar el puesto se percibe más legítimo, un candidato que merece ese puesto predice unas consecuencias más positivas como resultado de dicha elección. Además, los resultados sugieren que el grado de implicación de los individuos con la elección interactúa con el derecho y el merecimiento (AU)

The structural model of deservingness () posits that entitlement and deservingness are two different predictors of perceptions of legitimacy. Specifically, entitlement refers to the accomplishment of established social rules, whereas deservingness relates to the outcomes that individuals earn as products of their actions. Although both factors are good predictors of perceived legitimacy, previous works show different conclusions about their relevance. The aim of this paper is to further examine the influence of entitlement and deservingness on legitimacy perceptions and on the consequences expected for a candidate who has been elected for a power position. Results showed that whereas a high-entitlement candidate is perceived as more legitimate, a high-deservingness candidate is expected to perform better. Besides, results hint that the level of personal implication with the candidate election plays also a relevant role in combination with entitlement and deservingness, when individuals evaluate the expected consequences of the decision (AU)