Intimate partner violence in female-headed one-parent households: generating data on prevalence, consequences and support

Abstract

This paper aims to explore intimate partner violence (IPV) in female-headed one-parent households, as well as the measures of protection and support taken by mothers and received from institutions. To generate data and analysis a non-androcentric action research was carried out together with the Federation of One-Parent Families of Catalonia. A survey was designed and distributed through a strategic convenience sampling and received 300 answers from one-parent households. About 96% of them were female-headed and a 42.9% of them reported having suffered IPV once in their lives. Our results show then a high prevalence of IPV among those mothers, especially for women who separated or divorced, with fewer resources and coming from Latin America. However, women with fewer resources more frequently reported such violence, relied more on community-based organisations and applied more for court restraining orders. In any case, public support for women in female-headed one-parent households that suffer IPV is still insufficient