Sexist beliefs of men in suspended sentence who have used violence against women in the couple

Abstract

Intimate partner violence against women is a problem that affects most societies. Although men who perpetrate this violence have been described from a clinical point of view, analyzing the acceptance of sexist attitudes would make it possible to incorporate the influence of other contextual variables that explain the phenomenon from a broader perspective. In the present study, the relationship between the perception of violence as a private matter and sexist attitudes is analyzed with a sample of 121 men who have perpetrated violence against women. The results show that those who consider violence against the partner as a private matter obtain higher scores, both in the hostile and benevolent components, and that it is in the hostile dimension of sexism where the greatest differences are found (t = 4.03; p = .000), with a high effect size (d = .75). Identifying violence against women as a social problem and not as a private matter seems to be a relevant step in interventions to deconstruct discriminatory attitudes and eradicate violence against women. Keywords:.