Bibliometric review of
spousal violence in women in
confinement by Covid-19
Revision bibliométrica de la violencia
conyugal en mujeres en el marco del
confinamiento por Covid-19
Díaz Espinoza, Maribel
Degree in Obstetrics, PhD in Education
Administration, Universidad Tecnológica del Perú -
Piura, diasespinoza@hotmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5208-8380.
Raul Eduardo Reyes Ramirez
Master in Public Management, Universidad César
Vallejo, Lima, Peru, Ing.reyesramirez@gmail.com
Ing.reyesramirez@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000- 0002-0993-0568
Deborah Mercedes Castro Castillo
Master in Public Management, Universidad César
Vallejo, Lima, Peru. demeca79@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5941-2876.
Zapata Quispe, Raquel
Master in Public Management and Governance,
Universidad César Vallejo, Lima, Peru,
raquelzq1@gmail.com - https://orcid.org/0000-
0002-4694-8417
Abstract
The confinement as preventive extent to avoid Covid-
19 contagion brings a lot of problems of public health
and one of them is the intimate partner violence,
which generate serious and harmful consequences to
the physical, psychological, social and economic
health from the families and the society in general.
The objective: identify the actual state of the scientific
production around the intimate partner violence
Imaginario Social
Publishing entity
University of Guayaquil -
REDICME (reg-red-18-0061)
e-ISSN: 2737-6362
July - December 2021 Vol. 4-2-2021
http://revista-
imaginariosocial.com/index.php/es/index
Receipt: February 05, 2021
Acceptance: April 15, 2021
38-51
40
through confinement to avoid Covid-19, that takes place in the data base of Scopus,
Scielo, Dialnet and Redalyc and is going to deliver results thanks to a bibliometric
study. Materials and methods. The bibliometric study, descriptive, the sample was
conformed for 20 articles that were posted and indexed in data bases like Scielo,
Scopus, Latindex and Sciencia Direct. The results: the 40% and the 35,0% of the
articles are posted in data bases like Scielo and Scopus, the most investigated theme
were the emotional consequences caused in women by conjugal violence (50,0%), the
studies focused in the quantitative approach (95,0%) and descriptive type (45,0%), the
sampling wasn't probabilistic in the majority of the studies (60,0%) and the most used
technique were the questionaries and scales. The conclusion: the intimate partner
violence still requires to be watched as a mix focus by the investigators.
Keywords: Marital violence, bibliometrics, research
Resumen
El confinamiento como medida preventiva para el contagio del Covid-19 trajo consigo
muchos problemas de salud pública y uno de ellos es la violencia conyugal, la cual
genera graves consecuencias perjudiciales para la salud física, psicológica, social y
económica para las familias y a la sociedad en general. Identificar el estado actual de
la producción científica en torno a la violencia conyugal durante el confinamiento por
covid 19 en las bases de datos Scopus, Scielo, Dialnet y Redalyc, por medio de un
estudio bibliométrico. Estudio bibliométrico, descriptivo, la muestra estuvo
conformada por 20 artículos publicados indexados en base de datos como Scielo,
Scopus, Latindex y Sciencia Direct. El 40,0% y 35,0% de los artículos están publicados
en base de datos como Scielo y Scopus, la temática más investigada fue las
consecuencias emocionales de la violencia conyugal en las mujeres (50,0%), los
estudios se centraron en el enfoque cuantitativo (95,0%) y de tipo descriptivos (45,0%),
el muestreo fue no probabilístico en la mayoría de los estudios (60,0%) y la técnica más
usada fueron los cuestionarios y escalas. La violencia conyugal aun requiere ser vista
desde un enfoque mixto por los investigadores.
Palabras clave: Violencia conyugal, bibliometría, investigaciones
41
Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO - 2020), makes a worldwide declaration of
emergency regarding the COVID - 19 pandemic, stating that it is a public health
emergency of global context on January 30, 2020, which implies that the pandemic
has evolved worldwide and is affecting large numbers of people, especially women,
which has generated profound changes in public health and in the care of the female
population vulnerable to gender violence. Severe forms of the disease COVID-19 are
largely detrimental to people over 60 years of age and within this category is
concentrated the highest lethality (14% and more in people over 80 years of age).
Another category at risk of developing severe forms are adults under 60 years of age
with pre-existing chronic morbidities and in the absence of comorbidities, the total
lethality drops to 0.9% (Barros & Turpo, 2018), (Surveillances, 2019).
In Latin America there are the highest figures regarding gender violence worldwide,
in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, El Salvador and Bolivia,
representing 81% of global cases, associated with high levels of economic, social and
emotional dependency (Plan International, 2020). Within the existing panorama due
to the appearance of COVID-19 and the actions taken by each country, the importance
of investigating the relationship between confinement and other risk factors that
generate an increase in the severity and incidence of different types of gender violence
and violence against women is discovered (Hall and Tucker, 2020). As can be seen in
many of the countries mentioned above, the trend is the same in terms of the presence
of spousal violence, which has increased in times of confinement.
In the case of Peru, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations detailed that
as of November 30, 2020, the Women's Emergency Center attended a total of 98,164
cases, of which 48,168 correspond to cases of psychological violence, 37,756 to physical
violence and 11,782 to sexual violence. In the same sense, it revealed that 85.5 % of the
complaints are filed by women and 14.5 % by men. Olivas (2016) found that 77.8% of
the female population are victims of spousal violence, making it an alarming social
problem, as it is a social phenomenon that affects the Peruvian population and is on
the rise. The alarming thing about all this is that 70.5% of the female population ever
united between 15 to 49 years who have been violated by their partner or ex-partner,
42
did not resort to any support center (Observatorio Nacional contra la violencia, 2019).
Mendoza (2020) found that in rural areas 92.9% of women suffer partner abuse
(between medium and high levels), and it can also be observed that psychological
abuse (90.5%) is higher than physical abuse (56.4%) and that sexual abuse is lower
(19.1%).
These research results highlight the difficult circumstances that women go through in
times of confinement, in addition to the economic situation of the families and the
scarce support from the state for victims of conjugal violence. In this regard, Londoño
(2020) states that confinement becomes an ideal environment for exacerbating the
manifestations of conjugal violence, because the social situation isolates the victim and
forces her to remain with her aggressor, who in turn increases his control over her,
reducing the possibility of her being able to access the services intended for her
protection.
The conceptualizations of spousal violence are very similar in many of the researchers,
so some theorists define it as the exercise of power in the context of the relationship,
whether in dating, marriage or cohabitation relationships, through which either by
certain practices or omissions it manages to harm or control the actions of the other (
Moral and López, 2012), while Valdés, et al (2011) points out that it is a practice of
gender-based violence that results in physical, psychological or sexual harm
accompanied by some threat and in some serious cases of deprivation of liberty, these
events can occur in private or in public. Gender-based violence is also a myriad of
behaviors within an intimate relationship that can result in physical, psychological or
sexual harm to both parties. These behaviors include physical aggression,
psychological abuse, forced intercourse and controlling practices (Heise, & García-
Moreno, 2003), as well as violence caused by current or past spouses and partners. It
should be noted that most of the people who have experienced intimate partner
violence are female, and it is the male gender who perpetrates it (United Nations,
2015). As can be seen, there is similarity in their conceptualizations, focusing on the
fact that it is an act that occurs between two people who maintain or have had a
sentimental bond, this violence can be physical with serious psychological
repercussions and in the most extreme degree accompanied by sexual violence, the
43
authors agree that it is perpetrated by the spouse, among its new modalities are
economic and patrimonial violence.
Those who have survived physical or sexual violence show immediate reactions of
discomfort that, if left untreated, open the way to the development of a chronic and
long-lasting symptomatic pattern; for example, they experience post-traumatic stress
disorder, become depressed, present psychosomatic difficulties and become anxious
(Valdez et al., 2006; Bermúdez, 2008). López and Dominique (2020) state that the
consequences and damage caused by gender-based and intrafamily violence during
the covid - 19, are reflected in every area of the victim's life, causing emotional and
behavioral difficulties and even mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Fabián et al (2021) consider that gender violence, in these times, has been having
repercussions in society and the family, even psychologically, the latter with greater
visibility due to the fact that more and more people are anxious, depressed, feel guilty
or end up committing suicide.
García and Matud (2015) , (Gamboa et al., 2019) mention that a large part of the female
population in Mexico and more than 50% of women in Spain have been abused by
their partners; being almost always psychologically abused. This was associated with
poor mental health, low social support and a more traditional attitude towards gender
roles. Along the same lines, Calvo and Camacho (2014) point out that women who are
victims of violence show evidence of physical health, emotional problems and an
increase in the use of health care, where in some cases the reason for the consultation
is not even specified. Quispe and Palacios (2020) confirm that in cases of violence
against women and vulnerable groups, women are more likely to suffer violence than
men.
Spousal violence has attracted the attention of the academic and scientific world
during confinement, however, there is still little published research on spousal
violence during covid 19 confinement. Recognizing the findings of these studies,
knowing where they have been published, what approach they have followed and what
are their main contributions are a contribution to generate the necessary health
strategies to address this social phenomenon that has been representing a public
health and human rights problem. The objective of this research article is to identify
44
the current state of scientific production on conjugal violence during confinement by
covid 19 in the databases Scopus, Scielo, Dialnet and Redalyc, by means of a bibliometric
study, in order to establish new lines of research.
Materials and Methods
This scientific exploration was developed through a bibliometric, descriptive and
introspective inquiry (Romaní, Huamaní and González-Alcaide, 2011), based on
articles published on conjugal violence during confinement, in order to describe the
current situation of the topics under study. This type of study provides quantitative
data on research published at the national, provincial, national and institutional levels,
and even at the individual level; this information makes possible the comparative
analysis of scientific productivity (Gauthier, 1998), the approach is quantitative.
The sample obtained from the search of articles consisted of 20 research articles
published during the period of confinement, the review was conducted between
January - April 2021, the reviews were indexed in Scielo, Scopus, Latindex and
Sciencia Direct databases, in Spanish, Portuguese and English. The inclusion criteria
of the materials included: articles resulting from explorations and indexing in high
impact databases, articles where the variable violence against women appears and
belonging to the context of the covid-19 pandemic; the exclusion criteria were: letters
to the editor, short articles and non-indexed articles, as well as academic degree theses.
The indicators calculated were: subject matter, database, study approach and design,
sample and instruments used.
The selected articles were tabulated using the Excel data collection grid, the
documents were tabulated and coded through the grid designed for the present study,
for data processing it was pertinent to use the Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS), by means of the descriptive analysis of frequencies of each variable and the
results were presented in tables and figures.
Results
45
The results reported in Table 1, the database where most articles have been published
is Scielo and Scopus with 8 (40%) to 7 (35%) publications respectively, in Latindex
20.0% and only 5.0% were found in Science direct, the type of articles that have been
most published and found are the original ones.
Table 1: Database and language of publications
Frequency
Percentage
Scielo
40,0
Scopus
35,0
Latindex
20,0
Science direct
1
5,0
Total
100,0
Originals
100,0
Source: Own elaboration
Of all the articles published on the subject of spousal violence in times of confinement,
the most frequent topic was the consequences of spousal violence on the emotional
state of the woman, followed by the possible predictors or triggers of intimate partner
violence, and the least studied topic was the characteristics of the abused woman
(Table 2).
Table 2: Themes of the articles related to spousal violence
Frequency
Percentage
Research
topic
Emotional consequences
in women
50,0
Predictors of violence
45,0
Characteristics of
women with violence
1
5,0
Source: Own elaboration
46
Regarding the approach and design, Table 4 shows that the largest number of studies
have been developed under the quantitative approach; the most common types of
research are descriptive, followed by correlational and in the same percentage are
longitudinal, retrospective, case-control and grounded theory.
Table 3: Research approach and types of research
Frequency
Percentage
Approach
Quantitative
95,0
Qualitative
1
5,0
Type
Correlational/explanatory
35,0
Descriptive
45,0
Longitudinal
1
5,0
Retrospective
1
5,0
Cases and controls
1
5,0
Grounded theory
1
5,0
Source: Own elaboration
Regarding the sampling used by the researchers, it was found that non-probabilistic
sampling predominates, followed by non-probabilistic sampling, with respect to the
type of instrument used, questionnaires have been used the most, followed by scales
and inventories (Table 4).
Table 4: Sampling and instruments
Frequency
Percentage
Sampling
30,0
60,0
10,0
40,0
Type of instrument
used
35,0
1
5,0
47
20,0
Source: Own elaboration
Discussion
The purpose of the study was to identify the current state of scientific production on
spousal violence during confinement by covid 19 in the databases Scopus, Scielo,
Latindex and Science direct, a total of 80 published scientific articles were found that
make reference to spousal violence, the results found allow observing the general
context of the current state of studies on spousal violence, this allows understanding
that we must continue working on studies with proposals that contribute to the
reduction of violence.
It was identified that most of the studies come from two very recognized high impact
databases such as Scopus and Scielo, which allows having confidence with the data
presented in the research since they are refereed under blind peer review and are
indexed in important databases, in this regard Székely et al. (2014) points out that peer
review is a highly valued standard in the scientific field. It is that sequence in which
scientists ("peers") make a quality assessment of the research of other scholars. Having
performed this practice, they mainly seek to ensure that the works are rigorous,
coherent, use past research and increase our knowledge.
Researchers have focused their studies especially on the emotional consequences of
spousal violence on women, highlighting problems such as anxiety, depression, fear,
need for access to the partner and subordination (Fabián et al., 2020), insecurity,
feelings of guilt and social isolation (Aiquipa and Canción, 2020), anxiety, depression,
inadequate self-esteem, insecurity and low self-esteem (Hernández et al., 2020),
feelings of guilt and social isolation (Aiquipa and Canción, 2020), anxiety, depression,
inadequate self-esteem, insecurity and low self-esteem (Hernández et al, 2020). In
addition, it was evidenced that 100% of the evaluated articles are original articles, data
that agree with the research of Badabes and Expósito (2021), who report in their
results an increase in production in recent years, highlighting the publication of
original articles.
Another of the data found is the presence of a predominance of quantitative
explorations, so we affirm that there is a tendency for this approach of study, providing
48
data on the reality particularized by the contact with reality under the influence of the
senses. Within these explorations the search consists of describing the real plane based
on the frequency with which the characteristics of the studied action will be
represented, being this the first step in order to observe the pattern of generality
surrounding the problem of conjugal violence, also within the type of research are the
descriptive followed by the correlational ones. The information found corroborates the
propositions of Castro and Riquer (2003), on the empiricist character of the study of
the problem, which, despite detailing the real panorama, does not reach true
sufficiency unless it is based on propositions of a conceptual and theoretical nature or
seeks to elaborate them.
In relation to the type of sampling, there is a predominance of non-probabilistic
purposive sampling and the data collection technique refers to the research phase in
which the collection of empirical information is carried out, the most used are
questionnaires followed by scales and inventories, all standardized and with
psychometric properties from the psychological point of view, this predominance of
the use of instruments with closed questions and likert type scales. According to Paz
and Pino (2012) this predominance of instruments is due to the quantitative
empiricist-inductivist epistemological approach within the study in the area.
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