Researchers from CIMCYC and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Granada, in collaboration with two research centers in the Southern region of Denmark, have carried out a European research project on intimate partner violence (IPV) in pregnant women (Project STOP: STop intimate partner viOlence in Pregnancy).
Pregnancy is a particularly vulnerable time of life in which IPV is more prevalent than other conditions that are usually monitored at perinatal visits, such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia.
The consequences of suffering this violence during gestation are widely known: from physical health problems, such as reproductive, cardiovascular and nervous system conditions, to mental health problems, such as substance abuse, anxiety and depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Despite the magnitude and consequences of this problem, attention to it, both at the level of detection and intervention, is insufficient.
The STOP project has implemented two actions to advance the processes of detection and intervention with women at risk of VP during pregnancy.
On the one hand, a digital screening tool has been created and implemented to detect cases of VP. During two years, in 76 Primary Care Health Centers in Granada, Málaga, Córdoba, Jaén and Almería, 46 midwives offered this screening tool to 2055 women during the first pregnancy visit. On the other hand, those women who presented a risk of suffering VP (350, 17% of the total), were offered the possibility of participating in an online intervention program using a mobile application to increase their safety and protection against violence. The program, which was designed in collaboration with VP survivors, VP professionals and primary care midwives, consisted of 6 online psychological counseling sessions. During these sessions, the woman, accompanied by a project psychologist specialized in IPV, received psychoeducation on gender-based violence, worked on her support network and self-esteem, obtained information on resources to turn to and made a safety plan.
The results of the project showed an increase in the empowerment of the participants in safety strategies, as well as a reduction in the violence they suffered. Therefore, this work provides evidence in favor of the establishment of a screening process for VP in Primary Care and the implementation of virtual care tools for pregnant women at risk of VP.
The project was funded by the European Justice Programme (JUST) Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (ECP) (reference 881648).
Project website: https://stop-ipv.eu/es/home-espanol/
Contact researchers:
Jesús L. Megías.
- Stella Martín de las Heras.
- Juan Carlos Torres Cantero.
- Antonella-Ludmila Zapata Calvente.
- Sabina De León De León
- Rodrigo Fernández López
- Alba Oviedo-Gutiérrez
Key references:
Andreasen, K., Zapata-Calvente, A. L., Martin-de-Las-Heras, S., Bueno-Cavanillas, A., Schei, B., Dokkedahl, S., ... & Linde, D. S. (2023). Video consultations and safety app targeting pregnant women exposed to intimate partner violence in Denmark and Spain: Nested Cohort Intervention Study (STOP Study). JMIR formative research, 7, e38563.
Fernández López, R., De-Leon-de-Leon, S., Martin-de-Las-Heras, S., Torres Cantero, J. C., Megías, J. L., & Zapata-Calvente, A. L. (2022). Women survivors of intimate partner violence talk about using e-health during pregnancy: a focus group study. BMC women's health, 22(1), 1-14.
Zapata-Calvente, A. L., Megías, J. L., Velasco, C., Caño, A., Khan, K. S., Rubio, L., & Martin-de-Las-Heras, S. (2022). Screening for intimate partner violence during pregnancy: a test accuracy study. European journal of public health, 32(3), 429-435.