Risk factors for violence against women in the domestic and collective contexts

Abstract

This article describes risk factors for domestic and collective violence against women, these women's understanding of domestic and collective violence and the administration of the Calgary Family Assessment Model (CFAM) to community residents in the city of Fortaleza, state of Ceará. It was a case study conducted in 2005 with 20 families. Four families were selected because they showed high potential for violence against women. The results showed that the women know about some risk factors for violence; however, they apparently do not know how to act with the objective of avoiding it. Unfavorable housing and family conditions are perceived as risk factors. Violence is perceived by the woman as something common in the daily life of the couple. Alcohol, illicit drugs, unemployment and low schooling constitute aggravating factors in the occurrence of violence among the participant families. It is concluded that the women face, in their daily lives, different modes of violence. They live in a social and political isolation system that may contribute to the reproduction of more complex mechanisms of violence, preventing them from expressing themselves with autonomy.