Risk of Femicide and Quality of Life Assessment of Women Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Background: Violence against women is a public priority issue for epidemiological and public health sciences. Severe consequences of violence affect the quality of life of women victims. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact in the quality of life of the strengthening group in women victims of intimate partner violence who attend a reference violence center in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. Method: Quasi-experimental before and after the study was designed. The danger assessment and WHOQOL-BREF scales were applied at admission, after 3 and 6 months. Descriptive and statistical analysis of the variables was carried out to verify the difference between the measurements in the quality of life domains. Results: Seventy-eight victims of intimate partner violence participated in the study. The most prevalent violence was psychological (96.2%), physical (79.5%), and moral (67.7%). Three months after participating in the strengthening group, there was an improvement in the 4 domains of quality of life, significantly in the psychological (p= 0.032) and physical (p= 0.006) domains. More than half of the participants were classified at the extreme level of risk of femicide (51.3%). The study was stopped early because of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: With the available data collected, the strengthening group proved to be a strategy that positively impacts the quality of life of women victims of intimate partner violence. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.