Table 5 Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Results

 Legal status

No quantitative data was collected on legal status

Though interviews did not explicitly ask about legal status, many of the women disclosed their lack of formal documentation. Without legal residency in Ecuador, Colombian women were unable to travel freely across the border, own property, and secure formal employment. They conveyed stress to interviewers about the insecurity of their status in Ecuador and as Colombians felt discriminated against by their new communities.

 History of abuse

For both emotional IPV and physical and/or sexual IPV, IPV at time 1 is highly associated with IPV at time 2 (p < 0.001). No quantitative data was collected on childhood maltreatment.

Two women described physical and sexual abuse as children, and another described IPV in a previous marriage. All but three of the women described a fairly continuous history of IPV with their current partners.

 Guerrilla violence

Over 40% of Colombian woman who migrated to the area in the last 20 years, did so because of fear of violence, political reasons, food insecurity, property destruction or other reasons not related to marriage or looking for work. This was associated with recent P/S IPV (AOR: 5.06; 95% CI: 2.03, 12.59; p < 0.001).

Having someone in the household verbally threatened (AOR: 4.37; 95% CI: 1.65, 11.60; p < 0.001) or wounded/physically attacked (AOR: 4.62; 1.25, 17.06; p < 0.05) since migrating was also associated with P/S IPV

Half of the women described threats, depravation, and displacement as a result of the guerrillas and paramilitaries in Colombia and identified that violence as the reason they moved to Ecuador.

 Restricted mobility

Only 19% of the sample of Colombian women reported they could leave the city without their partner’s permission. 14.7% reported that their partners tried to limit their contact with their family, which was correlated with P/S IPV (p < 0.001) in bivariate but not multivariate analysis.

There is not quantitative information about immigration status.

Half of the women were prohibited by their husbands from leaving the home or engaging in community social life. The women were prevented from having friends, and their husbands use guilt, public humiliation, and physical force to keep them contained in the home. Several women explained how their immigration status prevented them from crossing the border into Colombia to visit family.

 Lack of social support

Forty percent of Colombian women in the sample reported having family in the area when they moved to the neighbourhood, and on average had 1.7 family members living in the area. Having family in the area was negatively associated with emotional IPV (AOR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.96; p < 0.05).

37.3% reported disagreeing or somewhat disagreeing with the statement “I can count on I can count of my neighbour to watch after my house; 12% with “I feel part of the community”; and 62% with “I feel alone”. These were not associated with IPV outcomes.

A majority of the women had limited contact with friends and family in Colombia, and very few had relatives in Ecuador. All of the women denied having close, trusted friendships in their new communities.

 Anti-Colombian sentiment

Over 30% of Colombian women reported that someone in their household experienced discrimination in the last six months because of their country of origin; 6 % reported discrimination because of race/ethnicity. These were associated with IPV in bivariate but not multivariate analysis.

Several women described experiences of discrimination in securing employment or access to social services. They also described a sense of separation and sometimes fear of their neighbours.

 Financial instability

75% of sample rents their home. In bivariate analysis only, household wealth was borderline significantly associated with P/S IPV (p < 0.11). Renting and food consumption score were not associated with IPV in bivariate analysis, but renting was a risk factor for P/S IPV in multivariate analysis.

All of the women faced conditions of poverty that generated marital stress and negatively impacted their abilities to integrate and succeed in Ecuador. Sources of income were unreliable so there was no ability to consistently pay bills or buy food. All but four women rented their homes. Of the four who did not rent, none had legal ownership of their properties. All of the women described facing food insecurity at some point, relying on diets of rice and potatoes, with no neighbours to turn to for support.

 Underemployment

95% of male partners were employed at baseline and 42.7% of women were employed. Gaining employment for women was positively associated with P/S IPV in bivariate analysis (p < 0.05) and borderline positively associated in multivariate analysis (AOR: 3.1; 95% CI: 0.94, 10.13; p = 0.06).

Among the men, unemployment was common due to limited job opportunities, disability, illiteracy, or alcoholism. Among those who did work, wages were irregular and insufficient. The women faced underemployment because of housekeeping and childcare obligations, the low value placed on female labour, and gendered expectations that confined her to the home.

 Financial dependence

Value of female-owned assets was negatively associated with P/S IPV in multivariate analysis, although it was of small magnitude (AOR: 0.998; 95% CI: 0.995, 1.0; p = 0.02). Male-to-female ratio of ownerships of household goods (value) and self-reported earning difference were not associated with IPV.

Even among women who worked part-time and earn their own wages, all but one of the women relied mainly on their husband’s income for survival and described limited ownership of household resources. Several women connected their financial dependence with the inability to leave their abusive husbands.