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This study aims to identify different types of response to intimate partner violence (IPV) and help-related seeking behavior among Spain's most numerous immigrant groups-Moroccans, Romanians, and Ecuadorians. Women reporting physical, sexual and/or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner (n = 194) were selected from a cross-sectional study based on 1,607 surveys (2011). There are 84% of surveyed battered women who reported seeking help through informal and/or formal channels. The most frequently reported informal help-seeking behavior was talking with the abusive partner (from 63% to 83%). Moroccans identified social services (29.6%) and health care (25.9%) professionals as their most frequently used formal resources when seeking help. Approximately 32% of Ecuadorians and Romanians declared having reported their partners to the police. Among all of the women, seeking help through formal channels was more probable in cases where the severity of IPV was high (adjusted odds ratio = 5.69, 95% confidence interval [2.29, 14.12]). It is needed to increase professionals' opportunities to intervene in cases of IPV before they become severe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe our experience of using the Putting Women First protocol in the design and implementation of a cross-sectional study on violence against women (VAW) among 1607 immigrant women from Morocco, Ecuador and Romania living in Spain in 2011. The Putting Women First protocol is an ethical guideline for VAW research, which includes recommendations to ensure the safety of the women involved in studies on this subject. The response rate in this study was 59.3%. The prevalence of VAW cases last year was 11.7%, of which 15.6% corresponded to Ecuadorian women, 10.9% to Moroccan women and 8.6% to Romanian women. We consider that the most important goal for future research is the use of VAW scales validated in different languages, which would help to overcome the language barriers encountered in this study., (Copyright © 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Since 1995, PAHO has been carrying out in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru a project known as "Violence against Women and Girls: Proposal to Establish Community-coordinated Interventions in Three Countries of the Andean Subregion." Its purpose is to support initiatives being conducted by various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, and social institutions in an attempt to improve the status of women. One of its objectives is to formulate public policies and local services aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and girls through local action networks, data-gathering systems, and legal proposals. This article examines what the initiative has achieved so far in Ecuador, in efforts conducted in Quito, Guayaquil, and Sigsig with the support of three national NGOs and in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the National Women's Council.