Risk Factors and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence Against Migrant Women: A Systematic Review From an Ecological Perspective

Abstract

In the context of increasing migration and forced displacement worldwide, intimate partner violence (IPV) against migrant women represents a major social and public health concern requiring analysis across individual, microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem levels. Guided by Heise’s ecological model, this systematic review synthesized recent quantitative evidence on IPV against migrant women. Specifically, this study identified the factors associated with IPV victimization among migrant women and IPV perpetration among migrant men, examined the migration-related factors associated with IPV, and explored the consequences for migrant women across ecological levels. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, searches were conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO for peer-reviewed quantitative studies published from 2019 onward in English or Spanish. Methodological quality was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklists. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings showed that factors associated with IPV operated across all ecological levels. Individual-level factors included traumatic experiences, mental health difficulties, substance-related problems, and migration-related characteristics. Microsystem-level factors included relationship dynamics, family structure, partner support, power imbalances, stalking, separation, and threats. Exosystem-level factors included economic hardship, unemployment, adverse living conditions, resource insecurity, acculturative stress, language-related factors, and social networks. Macrosystem-level factors included gender norms, acceptance of violence, inequitable gender attitudes, political repression, and discrimination. Consequences were examined mainly at the individual level, particularly mental health outcomes, while relational, exosystemic, and macrosystemic consequences remained underexplored. These findings support culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and multilevel approaches to IPV prevention and intervention in migration contexts.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 2026 · DOI ↗