Social determinants of health in women who experience violence in austral Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction: The social determinants influence the different living conditions, in the case of gender violence they allow us to analyze, reflect and look holistically at the problem that is considered a global epidemic, public health, and human rights that are present in all societies with serious consequences for the mental health of the victims.

Objective: To describe the social determinants of health in a group of women who experience gender-based violence and attend a specialized care center. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional quantitative research was carried out with a sample of 610 participants who signed the informed consent. Results: The women report living in an inadequate physical environment (61.6%) and physical social environment (61.3%), while 56.7% report an adequate family physical environment. Regarding the satisfaction with preventive health actions of violence related to the perception of violence in the home, it is shown that it is statistically significant (p=0.0001). Conclusions: The importance of including social determinants for the analysis of gender violence and thus comprehensively addressing the problem is highlighted. Gender violence is present in all family, community, and social spaces, perceived as a normal fact, for which the problem must be made visible with the magnitude it requires.