Prevalence and associated factors of domestic, sexual and community violence in Colombian immigrant women

Colombia has been affected by violence for many years. Left and right-hand guerrillas and paramilitaries have been fighting to control some areas of the Country. Their conflict has been fueled by the profitable narcotics trade. Women have suffered overwhelmingly the effects of this situation; many of them have been forced to migrate to escape violence. This research aims to understand the experiences that migrant women have had with violence before, during and after their migration. It is a multi-method study in which qualitative (focus groups and in-depth interviews) and quantitative (cross-sectional survey) techniques are mixed to understand the phenomena. The results show that they have been highly affected by violence before and after their migration. The governmental interventions have reached a very low percentage of this population. At the time of the study the prevalences of violence were: child physical abuse (20%), child emotional abuse (7%), abandonment (13%), child sexual abuse (5%), inter partner violence (26%), domestic elderly violence (21%), and community violence (21%). Factors positively associated with the report of violence were: beliefs about the benefits of physical punishment and ethnic minority. The factors negatively associated were: psychological wellbeing, social capital, social services and networks, and sexual and reproductive services. Immigrants arrive to depressed communities with high levels of violence. Non immigrant women in the receiver-communities have experienced less amounts of violence when compared with the immigrant women. The results of the study support the need to change the Colombian migration services policy.