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Perceptions of Causes, Consequences, and Solutions of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Mexican Women Survivors of IPV: A Qualitative Study

PMCID: PMC12189534

PMID: 40564505

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the main cause of violence against women, especially in Mexico. However, the causes, consequences, and solutions related to IPV have not been well understood in this population. A total of five focus groups that included Mexican women who were victims of IPV were conducted to understand the causes, consequences, and solutions related to IPV, and a thematic analysis was performed. A total of 32 participants were included, with a median (range) age of 35 (24–70). The main causes mentioned by the participants were (a) cultural ones, among which Machismo , transgenerational violence, and cultural norms and gender roles were the main categories; (b) emotional causes, among which the lack of emotional abilities and emotional dependence were the main categories; and (c) educative causes, among which the lack of information about mental health, emotional abilities, IPV, and healthy relationships was reported. The main consequences mentioned were (a) psychological; (b) physical; (c) economic; (d) family-related, including impacts on children; and (e) legal, in relation to IPV complaints and children’s custody. Finally, the main solutions mentioned by the participants were (a) prevention through education, including educational programs to address mental health, IPV information, healthy relationships, and training in emotional skills; (b) cultural transformation; and (c) institutional strengthening, with this last solution including improving public policies, improving legal advice, and training for legal authorities. In conclusion, the causes, consequences, and solutions related to IPV were varied and included many instances; therefore, its prevention and solution should be performed at the inter-institutional and community levels, in which the promotion of emotional skills should play a fundamental role.

Full Text

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most frequent type of violence against women worldwide (WHO, 2013), and it is a complex cross-cultural phenomenon defined as any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes harm (physical, psychological, sexual, or economic) to people within the relationship (García-Moreno et al., 2015).
In relation to the prevalence of IPV, according to Mexican government data from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Informatics (INEGI, 2021), around 70% of women aged 15 years or older have experienced at least one violent incident during their lives, in any area, with psychological violence being the most frequently reported (51.6%), followed by sexual violence (49.7%), physical violence (34.7%), and, finally, economic/patrimonial violence or discrimination (27.4%). Specifically, IPV has been reported in 40% of Mexican women aged 15 years or older who are or have been in a relationship (INEGI, 2021). These data reflect the magnitude of the problem of gender violence and, specifically, IPV in Mexico. According to the United Nations Offices of Drugs and Crime (UNODC, 2019), IPV has been associated with femicides worldwide, with 47% of them being perpetrated by an intimate partner or a family member (UNODC, 2019).
The main risk factors associated with IPV in low-income and Hispanic countries are classified into socio-demographic, family-related, behavioral, and community factors (Gunarathne et al., 2023; Cummings et al., 2013). Among these, the following risk factors have been positively associated with IPV: a low socioeconomic level, attitudes that favor IPV, having been exposed to violence in childhood, having witnessed parental violence in childhood, alcohol and drug consumption, economic dependence, and low self-esteem. The main consequences are the impact on mental health and physical health and the impact on children (Gunarathne et al., 2023). Additional differences have been observed in IPV prevalence in the living areas of low-income countries; in a recent report, it was shown that urban slum areas have higher rates of IPV than non-slum urban areas or urban areas, which has been mainly explained by the controlling behavior by husbands (Chen et al., 2025).
With reference to international qualitative studies addressing IPV experiences and needs in affected women, we found some recent studies (Admassu et al., 2024; Gilliam et al., 2024; Wood et al., 2024; Sanchez et al., 2025) that explored the perceptions of women and other social actors with reference to IPV in different cultures and contexts, one of them including pregnant Mexican women (Gilliam et al., 2024). In these studies, the need for familiar and social support that IPV victims experience in order to seek help and escape the violence circle, as well as the negative impact that cultural norms exert in this kind of violence, are remarkable; similarities were observed in different countries such as Ethiopia and Mexico (Admassu et al., 2024; Gilliam et al., 2024). The experiences of Mexican women victims of IPV are strongly influenced by these norms, where the same family members “force” the victim to stay in a violent relationship by prioritizing the relationship with the woman’s partner, marriage, and family above women’s dignity (Gilliam et al., 2024).
The lack of social support is also evidenced in a qualitative study on abused women in rural areas of Canada (Wood et al., 2024), where the physical and cultural elements of rurality increase social isolation and coercive control and decrease women’s capacity for control over their life choices. In that study, norms and social expectations were also associated with the coercive control that they experienced. This coercive control is also related to intimate partner sexual violence; in this regard, a qualitative study explored the experiences of French women victims of this kind of violence (Sanchez et al., 2025) who reported complex emotional trauma as a consequence of this violence, which was difficult to identify and was also related to a traumatic childhood history and the idealization of romantic love. These studies report similarities among risk factors and personal experiences in relation to IPV in different countries, contexts, and cultures.
Qualitative studies performed in Mexico also indicate that Machismo is highly prevalent in this culture and is directly related to IPV (Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019). This important factor, along with the admixture of social isolation, traditional gender norms, and a lack of family ties and family support, contributes to this serious health and social problem in Mexican women (Agoff et al., 2007; Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019)
Concerning quantitative studies performed in Mexico, it was reported that some studies have addressed the factors associated with IPV and their consequences (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2006; Valdez-Santiago et al., 2013; Ávila-Burgos et al., 2009). These found that women being younger with less education, having two or more children in the household, consuming alcohol, and having a personal history of abuse in childhood were significant predictors of IPV. In addition, the partner’s alcohol consumption was the most important predictor of severe IPV (Ávila-Burgos et al., 2009). It was also found that in indigenous Mexican populations, the significant risk factors for IPV were a history of childhood abuse, working outside the home, the unemployment of the partner, and a high frequency of alcohol consumption by the partner (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2013). Another study performed among Mexican women users of the health system found that the emotional discomfort was significantly related to severe IPV (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2006).
Additionally, in a systematic review related to barriers to formal support for women who have experienced IPV in Spanish-speaking countries, which included nine studies performed in Mexico, the main barriers identified were intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organization-specific barriers. Among the intrapersonal barriers were shame and fear, a lack of knowledge about community resources and laws regarding IPV, and attitudes that favor IPV. The interpersonal barriers included partners’ threats, staying in the relationship for the children, the victims not wanting their family to know, and a lack of family support. The organization-specific barriers included themes such as mistrust in the police and the legal and health systems, along with poor experiences with reporting IPV in the past (Carney, 2024). Most of these factors are also related to reports on qualitative and quantitative studies in the Mexican population.
This is a descriptive qualitative study performed with an interpretive phenomenological approach. This approach was used because the objective of the study was to determine the perceptions and experiences of Mexican women survivors of IPV in their specific contexts (Palmer et al., 2010). The study was conducted within focus groups comprising 5 to 8 women, in which a list of guidance questions was made and discussed with the participants.
Qualitative analyses: Qualitative data were analyzed according to the thematic framework approach, for which all interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim; these transcripts were then coded into themes, subthemes, and codes according to the themes explored. At this point, the themes corresponded to the main themes about which the interviews were conducted, i.e., the causes, consequences, and solutions of IPV. The subthemes corresponded to the second-order categories and included broad categories that were independent from other similar categories and, at the same time, included sub-categories within them. These sub-categories were referred to as codes and were part of the third-order categories, which showed no further subdivisions. These analyses were performed by three members of the research team, who revised all of the transcriptions and proposed a classification of the obtained information into themes and subthemes, independently in the first step and together in the second step. To facilitate the analysis, a large matrix with all answers obtained from the participants was created by the three research team members. The data analysis aimed to identify all of the different answers given for each question (Gale et al., 2013). The code of each participant is given according to the number of their inclusion in the study; when we mention the quotes of the participants in the results, we also mention the age in years for that specific participant, e.g., the code “P1, 25y” refers to the first participant included, who was 25 years of age.
A total of 95 women were invited to participate, of which 32 accepted; the median (range) age was 35 (24–70) years old, most of them (50.0%) were married, and half of these were separated. Most did not have a romantic partner (65.6%), did not have a job (59.4%), did not have economic independence (53.1%), and their schooling level was mainly secondary (34.4%). In addition, we observed that most of them joined their aggressor at a very young age of 20 years (13–29) and shortly thereafter began to experience IPV. We also observed that some of them still lived with their aggressors. These data are presented in Table 1.
A general overview of the qualitative analysis is presented in Table 2, where one can observe the themes, subthemes, and codes generated. We also added the number of participants of the 32 who were included that mentioned that specific answer.
In Mexico, IPV is a serious social problem, and it is an important cause of a social and mental health burden (Medina-Nuñez & Medina-Villegas, 2019). In this qualitative research, we addressed the causes, consequences, and solutions related to IPV in Mexican women survivors, and we found that many factors previously associated with IPV appeared in our interviews, including the following: exposure to violence in childhood, having witnessed parental violence in childhood, alcohol and drug consumption, sexist ideas, economic dependence, and low self-esteem (Gunarathne et al., 2023; Cummings et al., 2013). These causes also coincide with the risk factors reported in studies performed in Mexico, in which childhood abuse and alcohol consumption were associated with IPV (Ávila-Burgos et al., 2009; Valdez-Santiago et al., 2013; Carney, 2024). These factors have also been associated with IPV in pregnant Mexican women, where the presence of emotional distress, being single, being unmarried, and living with the partner were also reported (Doubova et al., 2007).
Likewise, the main previously reported consequences were also found in this study: the physical and mental impact and the impact of IPV on children; these have been reported at the international level (Gunarathne et al., 2023) and at the national level (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2006).
Regarding the causes, it is interesting that Machismo was the main cause of IPV mentioned by the participants; this term refers to the stereotype of alpha males in Latin culture and encompasses the qualities of virility, bravado, and being the decision maker of the family (Cummings et al., 2013). This variable has been associated with IPV in Latin cultures, where the rates of IPV are disproportionately higher than in non-Latin cultures (Cummings et al., 2013; González-Guarda et al., 2010; Caetano et al., 2004; Aldarondo et al., 2002). Machismo has also been related to drinking alcohol and related risky behaviors (González-Guarda et al., 2009), which are also risk factors for IPV (Cummings et al., 2013; González-Guarda et al., 2010). Additionally, this cause (Machismo) has been reported as a highly prevalent risk factor for IPV in Mexican survivors (Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019); this risk factor is also related to cultural norms and gender roles in this and other studies performed in Mexico (Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019; Carney, 2024), where the victim’s family judges her when she wants to get out of a violent relationship (Gilliam et al., 2024) and persuades her not to seek help (Carney, 2024). All of these cultural factors are related to “transgenerational violence”, the third code of the “cultural causes” observed in this study; this is defined as the repetition of violent behavior across generations, so a violent behavior that a woman has experienced or learned as “normal” is repeated with her new family members. Likewise, the violent behavior that a man experiences or observes in his parents’ relationship is replicated with his wife and even children, a point that was specifically mentioned by participants.
The “cultural causes” also relate to specific consequences, which include “emotional isolation” and “stigmatization”, as well as the solution of social support (code: support networks among women). Social isolation and stigmatization have also been mentioned in reports on women victims of IPV in Mexico and other countries (Carney, 2024; Wood et al., 2024; Admassu et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019; Agoff et al., 2007) and represent an important barrier to seeking help (Gilliam et al., 2024). Social isolation is also related to a higher risk of coercive control, which has been observed in rural areas of Canada (Wood et al., 2024), and it was also linked with the cause of “economic dependence” in this study.
In line with these “cultural causes”, femicides are reported at a higher frequency in Latin countries, with Mexico being in second place for femicides in Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG, 2023). It has been shown that Hispanic women are at twice the risk of being killed by a partner than non-Hispanic women in the US (Azziz-Baumgartner et al., 2011). These differences between Hispanic/Latin cultures and non-Latin cultures could be attributed to the cultural influence of Machismo and its detrimental consequences. In this sense, although Machismo has not been researched in relation to femicides, a report on men who committed femicide in South Africa showed that among the causes related to this behavior was the attempt to perform exaggerated versions of predominant ideals of masculinity, emphasizing extreme control and dominance over women (Mathews et al., 2014). This ideology is part of the definition of Machismo. The relationship between Machismo and femicides was also found in the following quote from a participant (P32, 52y): “Machismo has always existed and will never disappear […], right now we are here, in a little while they kidnap us, they kill us”.
Another important and frequently mentioned cause of IPV that was not previously reported was “emotional causes”, where the lack of emotional abilities, including self-esteem and assertiveness, was related to being an IPV victim. This cause could be addressed with the proposed solution of “training in personal skills” within the subtheme of “prevention through education”. In this sense, few studies related to intervention programs for IPV were found (Alsina et al., 2023), and in those studies, none of the interventions explored included training in emotional abilities from childhood to prevent IPV; most of them were implemented for women who had suffered from IPV or were at high risk of suffering from it. In this sense, we found one study that associated emotional abilities with a positive affect and future orientation in a population of victims of IPV (Cabras et al., 2020). Additionally, self-esteem and social problem-solving styles were associated with IPV victimization in a French sample of emerging adults (Cherrier et al., 2023). This represents an opportunity to prevent IPV by fomenting psychological abilities in children, which, in addition to preventing IPV, could improve the mental health of the population and diminish other types of violence. The lack of emotional abilities could also be linked to other causes of IPV mentioned by the participants, including emotional and economic dependence.
The two main causes and solutions mentioned by the participants are summarized in Figure 1.
Regarding the consequences of IPV, the results emphasize the psychological and physical consequences; in this sense, anxiety, depression, suicide attempts, and mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have been previously documented as consequences of IPV (Gunarathne et al., 2023). Therefore, one of the solutions to IPV mentioned by the participants was psychological therapy. In this regard, although government institutions offer 12 free sessions of psychological therapy, the victims stated that this is not enough and that more free sessions should be offered.
Psychological consequences in children were also mentioned; in children, violent behaviors and mental health problems have been reported, and these findings coincide with those of previous studies, in which psychological and behavioral effects, as well as developmental impairment, have been observed in children of women victims of IPV (Pahn & Yang, 2021; Abel et al., 2019). These important consequences in children contribute to perpetuating the cycle of violence and often remain unaddressed. In this sense, government institutions should also offer psychological treatment for children of IPV victims, which is currently not available in institutions that deal with IPV. In addition, a family-related consequence of IPV mentioned by the participants was the loss of contact with their children. In these cases, the participants mentioned that legal trials can last for years and, in the meantime, they do not see their children for a long time or only in supervised visits, which adds to the fact that legal advice and services are not provided by government institutions. Therefore, institutional strengthening by improving legal advice and public policies that truly provide justice and protect the victims was mentioned as a solution to IPV.
Additionally, the training of legal authorities to better treat the cases of IPV was also mentioned because many IPV victims are re-victimized during the process of filing a complaint of violence, making this a very slow and complicated process in which the victims are not believed. Therefore, the proposed training should include an increase in empathy from legal staff and simplification of the process, which should be performed with greater speed and efficacy. This ineffectiveness of the legal system could also explain the high rates of femicides reported in Mexico, a country with high levels of corruption and impunity (Universidad de las Américas, 2022). The impunity and failures in the legal system were also mentioned in previous reports in Ethiopia and Latin American countries (Admassu et al., 2024; Carney, 2024), where injustice or minimal punishment for aggressors (Admassu et al., 2024) and no legal deterrent for IPV perpetrators were observed (Carney, 2024). Finally, it is important to emphasize the codes within the subtheme of “cultural transformation”, which include the fact that men can also be victims of IPV by women and that women can also be aggressors of IPV in homosexual relationships; these variations in IPV should be also contemplated in preventive and treatment programs for IPV. In this regard, a recent report on a population of LGB victims of IPV in Turkey found that this population requires special needs that should be considered (Ummak et al., 2025).
In addition, the inclusion of civil organizations related to IPV is essential because they know the main needs and solutions for this important problem; therefore, the linkage between proposals made by researchers and civil society with government institutions can be the first step in making an effective change in IPV. However, political commitment is crucial; in this sense, a recent report showed that the political commitment in the Mexican health system to address violence against women reflects limited efforts and capacity to address this problem (Morse et al., 2025). This emphasizes the need to increase societal and academic cooperation in order to perform the required actions.

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"[{\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B35-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B17-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most frequent type of violence against women worldwide (WHO, 2013), and it is a complex cross-cultural phenomenon defined as any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes harm (physical, psychological, sexual, or economic) to people within the relationship (Garc\\u00eda-Moreno et al., 2015).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B22-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B22-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B32-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B32-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"In relation to the prevalence of IPV, according to Mexican government data from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Informatics (INEGI, 2021), around 70% of women aged 15 years or older have experienced at least one violent incident during their lives, in any area, with psychological violence being the most frequently reported (51.6%), followed by sexual violence (49.7%), physical violence (34.7%), and, finally, economic/patrimonial violence or discrimination (27.4%). Specifically, IPV has been reported in 40% of Mexican women aged 15 years or older who are or have been in a relationship (INEGI, 2021). These data reflect the magnitude of the problem of gender violence and, specifically, IPV in Mexico. According to the United Nations Offices of Drugs and Crime (UNODC, 2019), IPV has been associated with femicides worldwide, with 47% of them being perpetrated by an intimate partner or a family member (UNODC, 2019).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B21-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B14-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B21-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B12-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"The main risk factors associated with IPV in low-income and Hispanic countries are classified into socio-demographic, family-related, behavioral, and community factors (Gunarathne et al., 2023; Cummings et al., 2013). Among these, the following risk factors have been positively associated with IPV: a low socioeconomic level, attitudes that favor IPV, having been exposed to violence in childhood, having witnessed parental violence in childhood, alcohol and drug consumption, economic dependence, and low self-esteem. The main consequences are the impact on mental health and physical health and the impact on children (Gunarathne et al., 2023). Additional differences have been observed in IPV prevalence in the living areas of low-income countries; in a recent report, it was shown that urban slum areas have higher rates of IPV than non-slum urban areas or urban areas, which has been mainly explained by the controlling behavior by husbands (Chen et al., 2025).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B2-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B36-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B29-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B2-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"With reference to international qualitative studies addressing IPV experiences and needs in affected women, we found some recent studies (Admassu et al., 2024; Gilliam et al., 2024; Wood et al., 2024; Sanchez et al., 2025) that explored the perceptions of women and other social actors with reference to IPV in different cultures and contexts, one of them including pregnant Mexican women (Gilliam et al., 2024). In these studies, the need for familiar and social support that IPV victims experience in order to seek help and escape the violence circle, as well as the negative impact that cultural norms exert in this kind of violence, are remarkable; similarities were observed in different countries such as Ethiopia and Mexico (Admassu et al., 2024; Gilliam et al., 2024). The experiences of Mexican women victims of IPV are strongly influenced by these norms, where the same family members \\u201cforce\\u201d the victim to stay in a violent relationship by prioritizing the relationship with the woman\\u2019s partner, marriage, and family above women\\u2019s dignity (Gilliam et al., 2024).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B36-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B29-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"The lack of social support is also evidenced in a qualitative study on abused women in rural areas of Canada (Wood et al., 2024), where the physical and cultural elements of rurality increase social isolation and coercive control and decrease women\\u2019s capacity for control over their life choices. In that study, norms and social expectations were also associated with the coercive control that they experienced. This coercive control is also related to intimate partner sexual violence; in this regard, a qualitative study explored the experiences of French women victims of this kind of violence (Sanchez et al., 2025) who reported complex emotional trauma as a consequence of this violence, which was difficult to identify and was also related to a traumatic childhood history and the idealization of romantic love. These studies report similarities among risk factors and personal experiences in relation to IPV in different countries, contexts, and cultures.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B3-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B4-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B3-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"Qualitative studies performed in Mexico also indicate that Machismo is highly prevalent in this culture and is directly related to IPV (Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019). This important factor, along with the admixture of social isolation, traditional gender norms, and a lack of family ties and family support, contributes to this serious health and social problem in Mexican women (Agoff et al., 2007; Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019)\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B34-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B33-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B8-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B8-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B33-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B34-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"Concerning quantitative studies performed in Mexico, it was reported that some studies have addressed the factors associated with IPV and their consequences (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2006; Valdez-Santiago et al., 2013; \\u00c1vila-Burgos et al., 2009). These found that women being younger with less education, having two or more children in the household, consuming alcohol, and having a personal history of abuse in childhood were significant predictors of IPV. In addition, the partner\\u2019s alcohol consumption was the most important predictor of severe IPV (\\u00c1vila-Burgos et al., 2009). It was also found that in indigenous Mexican populations, the significant risk factors for IPV were a history of childhood abuse, working outside the home, the unemployment of the partner, and a high frequency of alcohol consumption by the partner (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2013). Another study performed among Mexican women users of the health system found that the emotional discomfort was significantly related to severe IPV (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2006).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B11-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"1. Introduction\", \"text\": \"Additionally, in a systematic review related to barriers to formal support for women who have experienced IPV in Spanish-speaking countries, which included nine studies performed in Mexico, the main barriers identified were intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organization-specific barriers. Among the intrapersonal barriers were shame and fear, a lack of knowledge about community resources and laws regarding IPV, and attitudes that favor IPV. The interpersonal barriers included partners\\u2019 threats, staying in the relationship for the children, the victims not wanting their family to know, and a lack of family support. The organization-specific barriers included themes such as mistrust in the police and the legal and health systems, along with poor experiences with reporting IPV in the past (Carney, 2024). Most of these factors are also related to reports on qualitative and quantitative studies in the Mexican population.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B28-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"2.3. Study Design\", \"text\": \"This is a descriptive qualitative study performed with an interpretive phenomenological approach. This approach was used because the objective of the study was to determine the perceptions and experiences of Mexican women survivors of IPV in their specific contexts (Palmer et al., 2010). The study was conducted within focus groups comprising 5 to 8 women, in which a list of guidance questions was made and discussed with the participants.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B16-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"2.6. Data Analyses\", \"text\": \"Qualitative analyses: Qualitative data were analyzed according to the thematic framework approach, for which all interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim; these transcripts were then coded into themes, subthemes, and codes according to the themes explored. At this point, the themes corresponded to the main themes about which the interviews were conducted, i.e., the causes, consequences, and solutions of IPV. The subthemes corresponded to the second-order categories and included broad categories that were independent from other similar categories and, at the same time, included sub-categories within them. These sub-categories were referred to as codes and were part of the third-order categories, which showed no further subdivisions. These analyses were performed by three members of the research team, who revised all of the transcriptions and proposed a classification of the obtained information into themes and subthemes, independently in the first step and together in the second step. To facilitate the analysis, a large matrix with all answers obtained from the participants was created by the three research team members. The data analysis aimed to identify all of the different answers given for each question (Gale et al., 2013). The code of each participant is given according to the number of their inclusion in the study; when we mention the quotes of the participants in the results, we also mention the age in years for that specific participant, e.g., the code \\u201cP1, 25y\\u201d refers to the first participant included, who was 25 years of age.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"behavsci-15-00723-t001\"], \"section\": \"3. Results\", \"text\": \"A total of 95 women were invited to participate, of which 32 accepted; the median (range) age was 35 (24\\u201370) years old, most of them (50.0%) were married, and half of these were separated. Most did not have a romantic partner (65.6%), did not have a job (59.4%), did not have economic independence (53.1%), and their schooling level was mainly secondary (34.4%). In addition, we observed that most of them joined their aggressor at a very young age of 20 years (13\\u201329) and shortly thereafter began to experience IPV. We also observed that some of them still lived with their aggressors. These data are presented in Table 1.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"behavsci-15-00723-t002\"], \"section\": \"3.1. Results of the Qualitative Analysis\", \"text\": \"A general overview of the qualitative analysis is presented in Table 2, where one can observe the themes, subthemes, and codes generated. We also added the number of participants of the 32 who were included that mentioned that specific answer.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B24-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B21-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B14-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B8-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B33-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B11-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B15-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"In Mexico, IPV is a serious social problem, and it is an important cause of a social and mental health burden (Medina-Nu\\u00f1ez & Medina-Villegas, 2019). In this qualitative research, we addressed the causes, consequences, and solutions related to IPV in Mexican women survivors, and we found that many factors previously associated with IPV appeared in our interviews, including the following: exposure to violence in childhood, having witnessed parental violence in childhood, alcohol and drug consumption, sexist ideas, economic dependence, and low self-esteem (Gunarathne et al., 2023; Cummings et al., 2013). These causes also coincide with the risk factors reported in studies performed in Mexico, in which childhood abuse and alcohol consumption were associated with IPV (\\u00c1vila-Burgos et al., 2009; Valdez-Santiago et al., 2013; Carney, 2024). These factors have also been associated with IPV in pregnant Mexican women, where the presence of emotional distress, being single, being unmarried, and living with the partner were also reported (Doubova et al., 2007).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B21-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B34-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"Likewise, the main previously reported consequences were also found in this study: the physical and mental impact and the impact of IPV on children; these have been reported at the international level (Gunarathne et al., 2023) and at the national level (Valdez-Santiago et al., 2006).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B14-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B14-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B20-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B10-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B5-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B19-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B14-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B20-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B3-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B3-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B11-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B11-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"Regarding the causes, it is interesting that Machismo was the main cause of IPV mentioned by the participants; this term refers to the stereotype of alpha males in Latin culture and encompasses the qualities of virility, bravado, and being the decision maker of the family (Cummings et al., 2013). This variable has been associated with IPV in Latin cultures, where the rates of IPV are disproportionately higher than in non-Latin cultures (Cummings et al., 2013; Gonz\\u00e1lez-Guarda et al., 2010; Caetano et al., 2004; Aldarondo et al., 2002). Machismo has also been related to drinking alcohol and related risky behaviors (Gonz\\u00e1lez-Guarda et al., 2009), which are also risk factors for IPV (Cummings et al., 2013; Gonz\\u00e1lez-Guarda et al., 2010). Additionally, this cause (Machismo) has been reported as a highly prevalent risk factor for IPV in Mexican survivors (Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019); this risk factor is also related to cultural norms and gender roles in this and other studies performed in Mexico (Gilliam et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019; Carney, 2024), where the victim\\u2019s family judges her when she wants to get out of a violent relationship (Gilliam et al., 2024) and persuades her not to seek help (Carney, 2024). All of these cultural factors are related to \\u201ctransgenerational violence\\u201d, the third code of the \\u201ccultural causes\\u201d observed in this study; this is defined as the repetition of violent behavior across generations, so a violent behavior that a woman has experienced or learned as \\u201cnormal\\u201d is repeated with her new family members. Likewise, the violent behavior that a man experiences or observes in his parents\\u2019 relationship is replicated with his wife and even children, a point that was specifically mentioned by participants.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B11-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B36-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B2-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B3-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B4-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B18-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B36-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"The \\u201ccultural causes\\u201d also relate to specific consequences, which include \\u201cemotional isolation\\u201d and \\u201cstigmatization\\u201d, as well as the solution of social support (code: support networks among women). Social isolation and stigmatization have also been mentioned in reports on women victims of IPV in Mexico and other countries (Carney, 2024; Wood et al., 2024; Admassu et al., 2024; Agoff & Herrera, 2019; Agoff et al., 2007) and represent an important barrier to seeking help (Gilliam et al., 2024). Social isolation is also related to a higher risk of coercive control, which has been observed in rural areas of Canada (Wood et al., 2024), and it was also linked with the cause of \\u201ceconomic dependence\\u201d in this study.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B26-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B7-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B23-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"In line with these \\u201ccultural causes\\u201d, femicides are reported at a higher frequency in Latin countries, with Mexico being in second place for femicides in Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG, 2023). It has been shown that Hispanic women are at twice the risk of being killed by a partner than non-Hispanic women in the US (Azziz-Baumgartner et al., 2011). These differences between Hispanic/Latin cultures and non-Latin cultures could be attributed to the cultural influence of Machismo and its detrimental consequences. In this sense, although Machismo has not been researched in relation to femicides, a report on men who committed femicide in South Africa showed that among the causes related to this behavior was the attempt to perform exaggerated versions of predominant ideals of masculinity, emphasizing extreme control and dominance over women (Mathews et al., 2014). This ideology is part of the definition of Machismo. The relationship between Machismo and femicides was also found in the following quote from a participant (P32, 52y): \\u201cMachismo has always existed and will never disappear [\\u2026], right now we are here, in a little while they kidnap us, they kill us\\u201d.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B6-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B9-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B13-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"Another important and frequently mentioned cause of IPV that was not previously reported was \\u201cemotional causes\\u201d, where the lack of emotional abilities, including self-esteem and assertiveness, was related to being an IPV victim. This cause could be addressed with the proposed solution of \\u201ctraining in personal skills\\u201d within the subtheme of \\u201cprevention through education\\u201d. In this sense, few studies related to intervention programs for IPV were found (Alsina et al., 2023), and in those studies, none of the interventions explored included training in emotional abilities from childhood to prevent IPV; most of them were implemented for women who had suffered from IPV or were at high risk of suffering from it. In this sense, we found one study that associated emotional abilities with a positive affect and future orientation in a population of victims of IPV (Cabras et al., 2020). Additionally, self-esteem and social problem-solving styles were associated with IPV victimization in a French sample of emerging adults (Cherrier et al., 2023). This represents an opportunity to prevent IPV by fomenting psychological abilities in children, which, in addition to preventing IPV, could improve the mental health of the population and diminish other types of violence. The lack of emotional abilities could also be linked to other causes of IPV mentioned by the participants, including emotional and economic dependence.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"behavsci-15-00723-f001\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"The two main causes and solutions mentioned by the participants are summarized in Figure 1.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B21-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"Regarding the consequences of IPV, the results emphasize the psychological and physical consequences; in this sense, anxiety, depression, suicide attempts, and mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have been previously documented as consequences of IPV (Gunarathne et al., 2023). Therefore, one of the solutions to IPV mentioned by the participants was psychological therapy. In this regard, although government institutions offer 12 free sessions of psychological therapy, the victims stated that this is not enough and that more free sessions should be offered.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B27-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B1-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"Psychological consequences in children were also mentioned; in children, violent behaviors and mental health problems have been reported, and these findings coincide with those of previous studies, in which psychological and behavioral effects, as well as developmental impairment, have been observed in children of women victims of IPV (Pahn & Yang, 2021; Abel et al., 2019). These important consequences in children contribute to perpetuating the cycle of violence and often remain unaddressed. In this sense, government institutions should also offer psychological treatment for children of IPV victims, which is currently not available in institutions that deal with IPV. In addition, a family-related consequence of IPV mentioned by the participants was the loss of contact with their children. In these cases, the participants mentioned that legal trials can last for years and, in the meantime, they do not see their children for a long time or only in supervised visits, which adds to the fact that legal advice and services are not provided by government institutions. Therefore, institutional strengthening by improving legal advice and public policies that truly provide justice and protect the victims was mentioned as a solution to IPV.\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B31-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B2-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B11-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B2-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B11-behavsci-15-00723\", \"B30-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"Additionally, the training of legal authorities to better treat the cases of IPV was also mentioned because many IPV victims are re-victimized during the process of filing a complaint of violence, making this a very slow and complicated process in which the victims are not believed. Therefore, the proposed training should include an increase in empathy from legal staff and simplification of the process, which should be performed with greater speed and efficacy. This ineffectiveness of the legal system could also explain the high rates of femicides reported in Mexico, a country with high levels of corruption and impunity (Universidad de las Am\\u00e9ricas, 2022). The impunity and failures in the legal system were also mentioned in previous reports in Ethiopia and Latin American countries (Admassu et al., 2024; Carney, 2024), where injustice or minimal punishment for aggressors (Admassu et al., 2024) and no legal deterrent for IPV perpetrators were observed (Carney, 2024). Finally, it is important to emphasize the codes within the subtheme of \\u201ccultural transformation\\u201d, which include the fact that men can also be victims of IPV by women and that women can also be aggressors of IPV in homosexual relationships; these variations in IPV should be also contemplated in preventive and treatment programs for IPV. In this regard, a recent report on a population of LGB victims of IPV in Turkey found that this population requires special needs that should be considered (Ummak et al., 2025).\"}, {\"pmc\": \"PMC12189534\", \"pmid\": \"40564505\", \"reference_ids\": [\"B25-behavsci-15-00723\"], \"section\": \"4. Discussion\", \"text\": \"In addition, the inclusion of civil organizations related to IPV is essential because they know the main needs and solutions for this important problem; therefore, the linkage between proposals made by researchers and civil society with government institutions can be the first step in making an effective change in IPV. However, political commitment is crucial; in this sense, a recent report showed that the political commitment in the Mexican health system to address violence against women reflects limited efforts and capacity to address this problem (Morse et al., 2025). This emphasizes the need to increase societal and academic cooperation in order to perform the required actions.\"}]"

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