Family violence and health

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to analyze the magnitude of the problem that represents family violence in Mexico and its relationship with health. The global movement against family violence is considered legitimate, whose risk factors are not only identified within the private intrafamilial space. Nowadays, the family is still considered as a historical and fundamental Institution for the preservation of the human species since it fulfills functions on generation, conservation and reproduction of social relations among all its members. People with a certain degree of vulnerability due to age (minors or elderly), gender, health, disabled ... are at risk of intrafamily violence. Other risk factors are the socio-economic level, ethnicity, religion, language and educational level. The home is the site of greatest occurrence of violence, women and minors being the most affected required a greater number of hospitalizations for this reason. In relation to violence against minors, the mother or a female figure is the one who exercises it, but at the same time she is the victim of serious abuse by her partner, or of a family member in homes almost always with a father absent. The number of cases of domestic violence has increased more than five times in the last five years, 90% of the victims are women and in 80% of the cases the aggressor was their partner. The process of gender construction is mentioned and a series of universally diffused myths about family violence are denied. Finally, mention is made of human rights and respect as a fundamental basis for stopping intrafamily violence.