Race, Ethnicity, and Victimization: Understanding Afro-Latina Women’s Experiences of IPV and Sociocultural Processes

• In Event: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence: New Perspectives

Abstract

While race and ethnicity are often conflated, they uniquely shape social experiences. This is particularly evident for Black/Afro-Latina women, whose intersecting identities are frequently overlooked in victimization research. Using a LatCrit theoretical framework, the present study examines how these complexities influence experiences with sociocultural processes and intimate partner violence (IPV). Using an online Qualtrics sample of 507 Hispanic and Latina-identifying women of varying racial backgrounds, a series of two-sample Wilcoxon rank-sum (Mann-Whitney U) and Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA tests were conducted, followed by post-hoc analyses where appropriate. Findings indicate that Afro-Latina women uniquely navigate sociocultural dynamics such as marianismo and religiosity. Significant differences were also identified across various forms of IPV based on intersecting identities. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Author

• Vanessa Centelles, Colorado State University