Black women are more likely to die from interpersonal violence, says study

The risk of death after reporting interpersonal violence is 33% higher for black, brown, yellow and indigenous women compared to white women. The data are from a survey by the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), which analyzed more than 100,000 cases of violence.

Specialists analyzed interpersonal violence with a focus on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women, relating notifications made by health services to death records. The study was carried out by researcher Isabella Vitral Pinto during her doctorate in the Graduate Program in Public Health. THE

Intimate partner violence is considered a type of interpersonal violence that can bring many harm to women, affecting their mental, reproductive and sexual health. “The consequences of IPV affect the condition of life and health of women, and may contribute to an increased risk of early death”, says Isabella, in a statement.

In addition, the researcher points out that this type of violence can also prevent victims from accessing the health system. “The experience of this violence can, for example, affect care for chronic diseases and also make it difficult for women to access health services”, she points out.

Social vulnerabilities

The research showed that, although intimate partner violence (IPV) affects individuals of all classes and racial groups, black, brown, yellow and indigenous women are 33% more likely to die after interpersonal violence than white women.

For the UFMG researcher, this result may be a reflection of the structural racism present in society. The thesis also originated an article that relates some sociodemographic aspects to the risk of death after IPV.

The results showed that women residing in rural areas, in small towns (less than ten thousand inhabitants) and with a disability also had a higher chance of death.

To arrive at these results, the research related the notifications of violence registered in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (Sinan) and the death data registered in the Mortality Information System (SIM). The studies included more than 100,000 women, aged 15 to 59 years, with reports of interpersonal violence in the period from 2011 to 2016.

The factors associated with mortality were traced from the comparison between the group of women who died, from any cause, with those who remained alive, and both groups had reported IPV.

According to the researcher, intimate partner violence should be seen as a health problem. Therefore, it is necessary that professionals in the area are trained to identify women in situations of violence and carry out notifications.

“In the case of the health sector, the work of professionals reaches a wide range of actions, from reception with qualified listening, comprehensive care considering the different levels of care, the provision of adequate treatments, carrying out referrals and monitoring cases. ”, he stressed.

For the specialist, the improvement in the qualification of professionals can contribute to reduce the underreporting of cases. She highlights the constant need to improve the quality of filling out notifications, since some variables such as education, recurrent violence and sexual orientation have a high percentage of non-completion.

“It is urgent that health data be used to carry out the diagnosis of the profile of women with IPV notification, to articulate networking with other bodies in dealing with the problem, as well as to outline specific strategies for the protection and guarantee of rights of women at higher risk”, she says.