ASSESSMENT OF THE RISK OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AND THE SARA

Violence against women within the couple, which we shall refer to as Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), is the most worrying form of all types of interpersonal violence. For medical-health, ethical-juridical, legal and social reasons, this type of violence has become the main focus of attention of large numbers of professionals, not least in view of its extent and its consequences. Murder of partners, physical and sexual violence, sexual harassment, serious and chronic forms of psychological violence and diverse combinations of apparently less serious physical and emotional abuse, but with equally dramatic consequences, make up this phenomenon embraced by the term IPV. Violence towards women, especially that which is exercised by their partners or ex-partners, is determined by the combined effect of numerous biological, cultural, social and personal variables, as well as by immediate situational factors (Holzworth-Munroe & Stuart, 1994; Echeburúa & Corral, 1998). The acts constituting IPV frequently occur in situations marked by conflictive contexts and chronic poor relations between the members of a couple