Gender-based violence in Latin America (Ecuador and Argentina): current state and challenges in the development of psychoeducational materials

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a complex social and public health problem, which represents a human rights violation. Globally, GBV tends to occur in intimate partner relationships. Latin American countries report high rates of this violence. Despite their social and historical differences, Ecuador and Argentina are among Latin countries that aim to dismantle patriarchy. Developing psychoeducation materials is one way in which communities can recognize and prevent GBV. Psycholinguistics can provide useful tools to facilitate learning about this social issue: prior studies suggest that promoting the establishment of discourse connections, the generation of emotion inferences and the emotional involvement of the comprehender facilitate written and spoken discourse comprehension. The aim of this commentary article is to present an overview of the current incidence of GBV in Ecuador and Argentina, and to highlight the contributions that preliminary research on discourse comprehension can make to facilitate learning about GBV prevention strategies. Finally, we will discuss possible research guidelines and future directions. We expect that this manuscript will contribute to highlighting the importance of promoting social awareness of GBV and, therefore, the crucial role of the design and implementation of scientifically based interventions.