The Impact of the Economic Situation of Women Victims of Domestic Violence on Their Process of Empowerment

EasyChair Preprint no. 7126

Abstract

Although domestic violence is nowadays a visible phenomenon, with growing interest from the political powers, the fact is that the number of women who are victims of violence in intimate relationships is growing, as is the number of homicides. It is, in fact, a worldwide scourge and, although there are studies in this sense, it is necessary to continue researching for a better understanding of the phenomenon.In this sense, this paper aims to present a study that sought to understand the influence of the economic situation of women who are victims of violence on intimate relationships during the process of autonomy, i.e., after the rupture of the relationship.

The research was developed by adopting a qualitative methodology, which used narrative interviews. Four interviews were carried out, two of them in an APAV and the others in a shelter home.The study shows that the formal support network (in this study, the support provided by the APAV is analysed) is essential in assisting and accompanying women victims in intimate relationships. We verified that the support is very limited taking into account the economic difficulties, namely in what concerns housing support. Although the women with the rupture achieve financial management autonomy, there are several difficulties they face in terms of acquiring goods. The study also shows a difference in the autonomisation process between the women who are in the shelter home and the others, due to the fact that during the period they are in the shelter home they are guaranteed housing and access to food and other essential goods.

Keyphrases: Mulheres vítimas nas relações de intimidade, Processo de autonomização, Situação económica

@Booklet{EasyChair:7126,
  author = {Catarina Silva and Jacqueline Marques},
  title = {The Impact of the Economic Situation of Women Victims of Domestic Violence on Their Process of Empowerment},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 7126},

  year = {EasyChair, 2021}}