Situations of violence experienced by women who have sex with women

• Grant number: 19/16157-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Margareth Aparecida Santini de Almeida
• Grantee: Isabel Cuba Gaspar
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Violence between intimate partnerships has been addressed under the assumption of heterosexuality, which reinforces the invisibility of situations of violence that occur in same-sex relationships, in part due to the taboo related to homosexuality. The present proposal aims to investigate and understand the situation of violence among women who have sex with women and to comparatively analyze its context with the violence experienced by women who have sex with men only. It is one of the projects that make up the largest research entitled "Vulnerability of women who have sex with women to injuries related to mental, sexual and reproductive health and violence situacion" (Process FAPESP 2018/19649-0). The target population comprises women who report having sex with women or women and men (MSM) and women who report having sex with men only (MSH) residing in the municipality of Botucatu/SP. Data are being collected by applying a questionnaire with open and closed questions. This proposal will analyze the following variables: sociodemographic, sexual behavior, situation of violence and use of health services. The variables will be categorized and the results will be presented in simple and cumulative frequency. Associations between groups will be made by chi-square test, significance level 5% to evaluate possible similarities between them. For each group and considering the variable "victim of violence" as the (binary) response, a logistic regression model will be adjusted considering the other variables as exploratory. A stepwise variable selection method will be used to adjust each model for each group. It will be possible to evaluate the factors that may influence the occurrence of "violence", adjusting the models for possible confounding variables. The open questions will be categorized according to the core of meaning, seeking to create explanatory categories. The results of this study may favor the planning of specific preventive approaches for this population, with a view to their comprehensive care and the formulation of health programs and policies.