Increase in physical violence against women perpetrated by the intimate partner: a trend analysis

Abstract

The scope of this article is to analyze the temporal trend by conducting a time series study of physical violence against women by an intimate partner in the State of Paraná between 2009 and 2016. Records of violence were obtained from the Notifiable Diseases and Violent Events Information System-SINAN. Levels of physical violence against women were calculated according to sociodemographic characteristics and means of aggression. For the trend analysis, polynomial regression was used. The notifications increased from 11.1 cases/100,000 women in 2009 to 91.2 in 2016, with an average annual increase of 14.84. There was an increase in rates of physical violence against women in all the Health Macroregional units, especially in the West with the highest average rate and in the North with the highest average annual increase. The spouse was the main aggressor. However, there was an increase in aggression by ex-spouses and boyfriends. There was also an increase in notifications among women aged 20-29 and 50-59 years, with eight years or more of study, and black/brown, yellow and indigenous race/color. The results reveal an increase in notifications of physical violence against women by an intimate partner, with changes in the sociodemographic profile of the victims.

Key words:
Intimate partner violence; Violence against women; Gender violence