Physical Dating Victimization among Female College Students in Chile: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Jocelyn Lehrer, University of California, San Francisco
Vivian Lehrer, Urban Justice Center
Evelyn Lehrer, University of Illinois at Chicago
Zhenxiang Zhao, University of Illinois at Chicago

Dating violence is an important public health issue per se and also because it can be a precursor to more severe incidents later. To date, no quantitative studies have examined such violence among college students in Chile. To address this gap, we administered an extensive survey to students at a large, public university in Santiago. Focusing on the female sample (n=441), we found that since age 14, 5.0% of the students had ever experienced an incident of physical dating violence resulting in physical injuries, and another 20.6% had experienced a less serious incident. Using generalized ordered logit models we found that risk factors included low SES, urban residence, witnessing of domestic violence and abuse during childhood, and initiation of sexual activity; attendance to religious services and living in the parental home had protective effects. The results suggest the importance of implementing prevention programs in Chilean universities