Intimate partner violence beyond the border: the nightmare continues now in the United States

Abstract

American government and several NGO have many economic resources in order to prevent and offer medical and psychological treatment to victims of intimate partner violence; nonetheless, many Mexican immigrant women suffer the effects of this type of violence now in the United States. Although it is possible to think that because these women are living in this country, they will be free of this nightmare, their situation is totally different. This article describes the effects of gender roles, socioeconomic status, alcohol and drugs abuse, family of origin violence, and multiple factors related to the process of acculturation on the prevalence of intimate partner violence among Mexican immigrant women living now in the United States. Each factor explains the framework maintaining and perpetuating intimate partner violence in this population. Literature review included in this article comprises scientific international articles between 1980 and 2015.