Intimate partner violence in women workers of maquiladoras of Nuevo Laredo, México

Summary

Aim: To identify the prevalence of intimate partner violence (VP) in Mexican women workers of maquiladoras, as well as to determine the relationship between VP indicators and socio-demographic characteristics (age, hours of work, number of children and level of education). Methods: The study was descriptive correlational. Through a non-probabilistic sampling method, a sample of 185 female workers was selected from two maquiladora companies in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A sociodemographic data record and the HITS and CTS2 scales were used. Results: 34.1% of the participants were single, 65.9% had basic education, and worked an average of 8.89 hours per day. 49.5% reported having experienced any type of VP at some point in their lives, with psychological violence (42.2%) being the most reported. The prevalence of VP was higher in the participants from 30 to 39 years old. Significant positive relationships between VP indicators with age (rs = .19, p ≤.01) and received violence (rs = .15, p ≤ .05) were identified. There was also a significant relationship between number of children with the received violence (rs = .19, p ≤ .01), and violence perpetrated against their partner (rs = .26, p ≤ .01).Conclusion: Intimate violence is a problem with high prevalence. More than half of the maquiladora workers have suffered some type of VP, especially psychological. In addition, higher age and number of children were associated with higher VP scores, so that they could constitute risk factors that warrant further investigation.