Service utilization among Latina survivors of intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an international health issue disproportionately affecting women, which is associated with a range of severe physical and mental health sequelae (Black et al., 2011). Research has demonstrated that individual factors, such as violence severity, and systemic factors, such as poverty, affect whether women seek formal help, including mental health, police, and legal services, in response to IPV (Lelaurain, Graziani, & Monaco, 2017). Latina women have voiced many challenges to seeking formal help (Rizo & Macy, 2011). These include limited economic resources, language gaps in service provision, and factors related to immigration (Rizo & Macy, 2011). The current study used meta-regression to examine relations between average self-reported therapy, police, and legal service utilization rates according to the sample-level characteristics of injury/beaten rates, employment, language, and nativity. Better understanding accessibility to care among Latina women experiencing IPV will strengthen the field’s ability to collaborate with survivors and respond effectively