Story of Hope: The development of a Spanish language audio program to increase awareness about domestic violence among Latinas

In the United States, one in four women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime. Victims of domestic violence are often immobilized by what happens to them at home and in the community; Latinas more so because of potential issues surrounding their immigration status, potential language barriers and cultural imperatives that govern relations between the sexes. There exists a need to raise awareness among Latinas that they have multiple options to effectively manage abusive relationships. Accordingly, the purpose of this project was to produce programming that generates awareness about domestic violence and motivates Latinas who are at the precontemplation stage of behavior change to consider leaving abusive relationships. Participative, community-based qualitative research methods [e.g., focus groups, interviews with key informants] act as the theoretic/methodological foundation and were used during the formative research phases in pre-producing and producing a domestic violence educational audio program in Spanish for Latinas. Three, five to six minute audio programs were created in an entertainment-education soap opera format. The audio program presents a compelling story of a Latina with whom the target audience can identify and become involved as her story unfolds and she struggles with the decision to leave her abusive husband. The content and format of the audio program includes culturally relevant modeling to influence Latinas' cognitive and subjective processes involved in making the decision to change. Complex attitudinal and behavioral issues can be targeted to decrease the influence that social and psychological barriers exert in Latinas' decision to manage abusive relationships.