Neighborhood factors and risk of intimate partner sexual violence victimization and perpetration

Background:

Socio-environmental characteristics are important to women's risk of experiencing intimate partner violence, but few studies focus on sexual violence.

Objective:

The objective of this analysis is to evaluate the impact of select neighborhood-level factors on risk of sexual intimate partner violence (SIPV) victimization and perpetration.

Methods:

Using data from structured interviews with 585 men and 330 women recruited via street-intercept methods between 2005 and 2008 in 36 New York City neighborhoods, relations between select neighborhood characteristics and risk of SIPV victimization and perpetration, while controlling for neighborhood income and individual-level factors, were assessed. Using multi-level (GEE) models and informed by social disorganization theory, we assessed a range of individual factors, such as sociodemographic and relationship, and neighborhood factors, such as collective efficacy, immigrant concentration and physical disorder.

Results:

In unadjusted models of victimization, neighborhood social cohesion was negatively and physical disorder was positively associated with risk of SIPV; after controlling for neighborhood income and individual-level factors, neighborhood physical disorder was associated with SIPV victimization. In models of perpetration, only neighborhood willingness to intervene in partner violence is positively associated with risk of SIPV perpetration; in fully adjusted models, no neighborhood factors are important to perpetration risk. Several individual-level factors, including cocaine dependence and childhood abuse, are associated with perpetration risk.

Conclusions:

Identifying neighborhood factors associated with SIPV victimization and perpetration are crucial to informing primary SIPV prevention strategies. These results suggest that the neighborhood factors may work differently to prevent men from perpetrating and protect women from experiencing SIPV.