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Research report
Intimate partner violence against low-income women in Mexico City and associations with work-related disruptions: a latent class analysis using cross-sectional data
  1. Jhumka Gupta1,
  2. Tiara C Willie2,3,
  3. Courtney Harris1,
  4. Paola Abril Campos4,
  5. Kathryn L Falb5,
  6. Claudia Garcia Moreno6,
  7. Claudia Diaz Olavarrieta7,
  8. Cassandra A Okechukwu4
  1. 1 Department of Global and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
  2. 2 Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  3. 3 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  4. 4 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  5. 5 International Rescue Committee, New York City, New York, USA
  6. 6 Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
  7. 7 Population Council of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
  1. Correspondence to Dr Jhumka Gupta, Department of Global and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 USA; jgupta4{at}gmu.edu

Abstract

Background Disrupting women’s employment is a strategy that abusive partners could use to prevent women from maintaining economic independence and stability. Yet, few studies have investigated disruptions in employment among victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in low-income and middle-income countries. Moreover, even fewer have sought to identify which female victims of IPV are most vulnerable to such disruptions.

Methods Using baseline data from 947 women in Mexico City enrolled in a randomised controlled trial, multilevel latent class analysis (LCA) was used to classify women based on their reported IPV experiences. Furthermore, multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed on a subsample of women reporting current work (n=572) to investigate associations between LCA membership and IPV-related employment disruptions.

Results Overall, 40.6% of women who were working at the time of the survey reported some form of work-related disruption due to IPV. LCA identified four distinct classes of IPV experiences: Low Physical and Sexual Violence (39.1%); High Sexual and Low Physical Violence class (9.6%); High Physical and Low Sexual Violence and Injuries (36.5%); High Physical and Sexual Violence and Injuries (14.8%). Compared with women in the Low Physical and Sexual Violence class, women in the High Physical and Sexual Violence and Injuries class and women in the High Physical and Low Sexual Violence and Injuries class were at greater risk of work disruption (adjusted relative risk (ARR) 2.44, 95% CI 1.80 to 3.29; ARR 2.05, 95% CI 1.56 to 2.70, respectively). No other statistically significant associations emerged.

Conclusion IPV, and specific patterns of IPV experiences, must be considered both in work settings and, more broadly, by economic development programmes.

Trial registration number NCT01661504.

  • violence against women
  • Mexico
  • employment
  • latent class analysis
  • economic empowerment
  • Latin America

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-209681

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors JG had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Study concept and design: JG, TCW, CDO, CGM. Acquisition of data: JG, KLF, PAC, CDO. Analysis and interpretation of data: JG, TCW, KLF, PAC, CH, CDO, CGM, CAO. Drafting of the manuscript: JG, TCW. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: JG, TCW, KLF, PAC, CH, CDO, CGM, CAO. Statistical analysis: TCW, JG. Obtained funding: JG, CDO. Administrative, technical or material support: JG, KLF, PAC, CDO.

    • Funding The study was funded by an anonymous donor administered by the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. Based on the stipulations set forth by the donor, we are not permitted to disclose the funder (PI: JG). Partial support was also provided by NIMH to Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (T32MH020031).

    • Disclaimer The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or decisions of the NIH, NIMH, the MOH, or the World Health Organization.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval All study protocols were approved by Yale School of Public Health (no. 1202007993), George Mason University (protocol no. 704016-4), Innovations for Poverty Action (no. 00006083) and the Mexico City Ministry of Health (protocol no. 1470-6812) human subjects committees.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement Due to the sensitive nature of the data, the data cannot be made publicly available. Requests for data should be sent to JG.