INDICATORS OF ABUSE AMONG MARGINALIZED WOMEN IN POBLACION

4, TANAUAN CITY, BATANGAS: AN ASSESSMENT

E.A.V. PAMPLONA, J.D. Casapao, A.I. Hernandez, J.E.J. Tumambing

ABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess
the indicators of abuse among
marginalized women in Poblacion 4,
Tanauan
City,
Batangas.
Researchers
utilized
Abraham
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and
Leonore Walkers Theory of the
Cycle of Violence. The study used
purposive sampling, and semistructured interview to gather data.
Findings indicate that having too
strict partners, women with physical
injury like bruises, hopelessness and
abuser controls all the money are the
indicators
of
abuse
among
marginalized women interviewed
from Poblacion 4, Tanauan City,
Batangas. Moreover, itsuggests that
action plans like program for
sustainable livelihood development
of marginalized women, wellness of
abused women and empowering
fatherhood values in Poblacion 4
were needed to help mitigate the
case of abused women.
Keyterms:
Indicators,
Marginalized Women

Abuse,

INTRODUCTION
Marginalization was often
described as a social process where
people were relegated to the fringes
or margins of the society (Shalu
Nigam,
2014).
The
act
of
marginalization inhibited a person, a
group, a section or even a
community to enjoy rights, privileges,

opportunities, and resources that

were normally available to members
of a society. It may therefore be
considered
as
a
discordant
relationship between those who were
marginalized as compared to those
who were being marginalized.
Marginalized women were
often exposed to many forms of
abuse
such
as
physical,
psychological,
social,
and
economical abuse. Its damage was
unquestionably severe, undermining
a woman's sense of worth, agency,
and independence.
In connection to the issue of
abuse among marginalized women
and role of nurses in the society, the
researchers, being concerned of the
widespread cases of abuse aimed to
assess
its
indicators
among
marginalized women in Poblacion 4,
Tanauan City and to support a
program of the city, END: Violence
against Women which aims to stop
violence against women.
To assess the indicators of
abuse, following questions were
answered:
(1)
What
is
the
psychographic
profile
of
the
participants and their partner in
terms
of
sexual
preference,
substance abuse, history of family
violence and history of criminal
activity? (2) What are the indicators
of abuse among marginalized
women in terms of social factor,
physical factor, psychological factor

and economical factor? (3) Which

among the noted indicators of abuse
predict changes in behavior of
marginalized women? (4) What is
the relationship of the factors from
indicators of abuse in marginalized
women
and
their
partners
psychographic profile? (5) What plan
of actions can be recommended to
the barangay to mitigate the case/s
of abuse?
METHODS
The researchers used a nonprobability sampling particularly the
purposive sampling to select the
participants based on predetermined
standard criteria: an ever-partnered
women, women with low or no
income ranging from zero to three
thousand
pesos;
residing
at
Poblacion 4, Tanauan City, 15 to 45
years of age and willingness to
participate in the study.
As recommended by the
Women and Child Protection Desk of
Tanauan City, the researchers
focused on Poblacion 4 as their
research locale. The researchers
chose only five cases among the
total number because of the need for
in-depth study of the participants.
However, only four were willing to
participate in the study. The
researchers only interviewed four
participants one at a time in one of
the closed rooms of Violence against
Womens (VAW) desk of their
barangay
according
to
the
participants availability.
A consent form was given to
the participants during the date of
the interview. Each participant
completed a ten-minute introduction
session and a one-to-two hour

interview. During the introduction

sessions, the purpose of the study
and content of the consent form
were explained. Participants were
labeled as Participant A, Participant
B, Participant C and Participant D
during the analysis of the interview.
Copies of the consent form were in a
file separated from the data. No
information listed on the consent
form was linked on the data with the
womens names.
The interview was made up of
three parts. Part I contained the
psychographic profile in which the
participants were asked about their
sexual preference, substance abuse,
history of family violence, and history
of criminal activity as well as their
partners. Part II contained factors
that
indicate
abuse
among
marginalized women such as social,
physical,
psychological,
and
economical
factors.
Part
III
presented the attitude/behavioral
changes and perspectives of abused
women in relation to the associated
factors.
The questions were adapted
from
HelpGuid.Org.2015
to
determine the signs or indicators of
abuse.
Every
question
was
translated in Tagalog for the
participants to better understand the
question.
Questionnaire
was
validated by the adviser and three
panelists.
The
information
provided
during the interview was audio
recorded. Recordings were then
transcribed immediately. Once the
research study was completed, the
audio recording and written transcript
was disposed and deleted.

The researchers used the

descriptive qualitative design for the
study. Qualitative research focused
on a relatively small number of
subjects
using
semi-structured
interviews. Thematic Analysis using
Colaizzis strategy was
used.
Significant statements that would
answer the statement of the
problems were extracted from each
PARTICIPANTS

SEXUAL
PREFERENCE

A
B
C
D

Heterosexual
Heterosexual
Heterosexual
Heterosexual

HISTORY
HISTORY
OF
OF
FAMILY
CRIMINAL
VIOLENCE
ACTIVITY
PARTNER
SEXUAL
SUBSNone
None
None
OF
PREFERENCE
TANCE
NonePARTICI- None
None ABUSE
None PANTS Yes
None

SUBSTANCE
ABUSE

None

A
B
C
D

None
None
Heterosexual
Heterosexual
Heterosexual
Heterosexual

None
Yes
None
Yes

transcript.
Meanings
were
formulated from the significant
statements.
The
formulated
meanings were sorted and initiated
into theme cluster and emergent
themes. Emergent themes were
identified across interviews as the
basis of the qualitative research.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
TABLE 1.a Psychographic Profile
of Four Participants

All the participants are

heterosexual and has no history of
criminal activity and substance
abuse. They also have no history of
family violence except for participant
C.
According to Smith & Segal
(2016), domestic violence and abuse
does not discriminate; it happens
among heterosexual couples and in
same-sex partnerships. It occurs
within all age ranges, ethnic
backgrounds, and economic levels.

According
to
Campbell
(2016), an abusive father can have a
detrimental effect on a young
woman's confidence and on her
future relationships. A young woman
who had an abusive father is at risk
for developing poor interpersonal
relationships, mental health issues
and physical ailments.
TABLE 1.b Psychographic Profile
of the Partner of
HISTORY
HISTORY
OF CRIMIParticipants
OF FAMILY
NAL
VIOLENCE

None
None
None
None

ACTIVITY

None
Yes
None
None

All
the
participants
partners are heterosexual and has
no history of family violence.
Participant Bs partner has a history
of criminal activity and positive in
substance abuse while participant
Ds partner is positive in substance
abuse.
According to Klein (2010),
there is a high correlation between
alcohol and substance abuse and
domestic violence for abusers.
Most studies agree that the
majority of domestic violence
perpetrators that come to the
attention of criminal justice or court
authorities have a prior criminal
history for a variety of nonviolent and
violent offenses against males as
well as females, and of a domestic or
nondomestic nature (Klein, 2010).

TABLE 2.a Emergent Theme on

Indicators of Abuse in terms of
Social Factor

Formulated
Meanings
The abuser does
not want her
partner to meet her
friends. He wanted
his family to be kept
at house.
The abuser does
not want her
partner to see their
neighbor.
The participant
feels that the
abuser kept her as
a prisoner.
The abuser is too
strict wherein the
participant has no
personal space.
The participant
identified her
partner as
dangerous type of
person though at
first glance he looks
innocent.
The abuser blames
her partner on
crowd and put her
in shame.
The abuser
became jealous
easily in
misinterpretation.
The abuser is
obsessive to the
relationship with the
participant.

Theme
Cluster

Emergent
Theme

As
noted
according
to
Renzerri (2011), the support of coworkers and job supervisors can
have a protective effect for abused
women. But most women's social
support networks are primarily
composed of their family members
and friends. When these social
supports are weak or tenuous,
women's options are curtailed and
they may be more likely to enter into
or to remain insecure, unsafe, or
harmful situations, including abusive
intimate relationships.

Isolating
the
participant

Abuser
shows
regression
behavior

family by their partner. A short period

of time are given to them every time
they asked for their partners
permission to attend in different
occasions they used to be present
before.

Too Strict
Partner

Verbal
assault by
the abuser

Abusers
possessive
traits

The abuser
immediately gets
angry whenever the
participant is not
able to ask
permission.

Some of the participants are

being controlled and forbidden to
socialize often with their friends and

TABLE 2.b Emergent Theme on

Indicators of Abuse in terms of
Physical Factor
Formulated Meanings
Because of drugs the participant
and the abuser had fights to the
point that her abuser threw a
cellphone direct to her face that
cause bruise.

Theme Clusters

Physical abuse resulting to

bruises

The participant always obeys the

abuser to avoid being hurt.
The participant was being hurt by
her abuser when she is
expressing her opinion regarding
their problem.

Afraid to get hurt

At first they only had verbal fights

but it led to physical fights. So
the participant is just following her
abuser to avoid fights.

Some of the participants were

involved in physical violence that

results to bruising of certain body

parts.
According to Follingstad, et
al., (2016), physical symptoms of
battered women were investigated
based on the theory that their
ongoing
victimization
would
produces stress-related symptoms.
Frequency of abuse was a strong
predictor of the number and severity
of symptoms. Those women who
could predict abuse experienced
more symptoms.
TABLE 2.c Emergent Theme on
Indicators of Abuse in terms of
Psychological Factor
Formulated Meanings
The participant thought that
she has the problem in the
relationship.
The participant wanted to
commit suicide.
Separation from the partner
is one of the thoughts of the
participant.
The participant wanted to
leave his partner but he
cannot do it because he was
her first.
Avoidance of the factors that
causes the quarrel between
the partners is one of the
thoughts of the participant.
The participant has intuition
that her partner has thirdparty.
The participant recognized
the same feeling because it
was done repetitively.
The participant has fear that
her partner might harm her.
As part of moving on, the
participant tried to forget
some memories.
The participant began to

have a stable life with her

children by forgetting the
past.
The participant and her
partner were fighting
verbally.
The partner of the
participant was accusing her
that she did nothing.
The partner of the
participant was telling her
that he did not love her.
The participant got hurt
when her partner called her
idiot.

Verbal Accusation

The partner of participant

humiliates her that no one
Theme Clusters else would want her.
Putting the blame on her
The participant was called
idiot by her partner.
Suicidal Thoughts
The partner of participant
Thoughts of Separationcriticizes her through words.
The participant verbalized
feeling of emotional abuse.
The participant insisted that
anyone who caught her
husband with mistress will
be emotionally hurt.
The participant stated that
even if she still loves her
partner it would not work
Always suspicious because he loved other
women.

The participant was hurt

because her partner was
changed.
The partner of participant
refuses to talk about their
Forgetting the memories
relationship.
The participant was hurt
when her partner withholds
affection to her.

Emotionally hurt

Feeling of unaffectionate of the

abuser

The participant lost her trust

to herself.
The participant lost her hope
to fix their relationship.

Abuser tends to pay out more

money for his own interest than for
his family.
The participant was accused of
stealing money.

Some of the participants

stated that they were being
controlled by their partner because
they have been told not to engage to
social gatherings or hangout with
their friends.

Money is always the cause of

disagreement among the
participant and the abuser. The
participant was accused of being
greedy.
When there is financial problem,
the abuser became easily irritated
and the argument begun.

Low self-esteem

According to Roberts and

Chapman (2012), people who
experienced a high degree of
distress in their marriage and work
roles experienced lower levels of
well-being. For many women, the
psychological
consequences
of
abuse are even more serious than its
physical effects as stated by Walker
(2010).

When something brought up

about money, the abuser tends to
physically abuse her.

End-up accusing regarding

issues in money

Provoke arguments due to

money matters

All the participants stated that

they lack control over the money of
their partner and end up in an
abusive situation. Some of the
participants engaged only in verbal
accusations of keeping the money.

According
to
Fernandez
(2015), in cases of abuse, it was
TABLE 2.d Emergent Theme on
found that women often distanced
Indicators of Abuse in terms of
themselves from certain realms of
Economic Factor
decision-making as a risk-prevention
Formulated Meanings
Theme Clusters
mechanism. Women in abusive
The abuser does not want the
relationships reported that they often
participant to have a job.
had little or no control over
Prohibited for having a job
household money.
Abuser preferred the participant to
stay home than having a job.
Abuser does not trust the
participant regarding the money.
Abuser gave only a small amount
of money to the participant.
The abuser has a doubt on the
participant while he is actually
doing uncertain act.
Abuser spends the money on his
personal leisure.
The abuser became irresponsible
of his duties.

Restricted from holding the

money

TABLE 3. Psychological Indicators

Abuser uses money for as Predicted of Change in
personal interestBehavior of Marginalized Women
Formulated Meanings
The participant is drinking alcohol
since; but never drank alcohol

Theme Clusters
Impairment in physical health

before they were together.

The participant finds hard time to
eat and feels full for most of the
time.
The participant realizes that she
is not meant with her partner.

Negative
with
substanc
Alteration in her view of the e abuse,
The
participant
keeps
no
world
remembering
the
harm
bad
A
experienced even though it is just
childhood
a simple touch.
experienc
The participant believes that their
e and no
relationship will last a lifetime.
involvem
ent in
crime
The participant verbalizes that
Positive
she will stick to her partner.
with
substanc
The participant still loves her
e abuse
partner
no
matter
what
Emotional Dependence
and
B
happened.
abusers
involvem
ent in
The participant has long patience
crime
and lowered her pride.
(Partner)
Bad
The participant cannot recognize
childhood
her self-identity.
experienc
C
e
(Participa
nt)
Some of the participants felt
Positive
changes in their eating pattern and
with
D
substanc
recognized that she had enough to
e abuse
endure what she is feeling towards
(Partner)

their partner. While the rest were

wanted to stay with their partners
because they are envisioning a
complete family despite of being
abused.
Eventually there is sort of this
wearing down for people on the
receiving end of the abuse where
they continue to tolerate more and
over time feel less entitled to safety,
he concludes (Dockterman, 2014).
TABLE 4. Relationship of the
Factors from Indicators of Abuse
in Marginalized Women and their
Partners Psychographic Profile
Particip
ant/
Partner

Psychograp
hic Profile

Too
Strict
Partn

Wom
en
with

Hopele
ssness

Abus
er
Contr

er

Physi
cal
Injury
like
Bruis
es

Yes

Non
e

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

ols
All
the
Mone
y

All the participants were

positive in too strict partner,
hopelessness and money matters
impede with daily living and personal
functioning. However, participant A
was the only participant who has no
physical injury like bruises.
According to Hidden Hurt
Article (2015), not all abusive people
show the same traits, or display the
tendencies to the same extent, if
several behavioral traits are present,
there is a strong tendency toward
abusiveness. Generally, the more

warning signs are present, the

greater the likelihood of violence. In
some cases, an abuser may have
only a couple of behavioral traits that
can be recognized, but they are
exaggerated (e.g. extreme jealousy
over ridiculous things).
CONCLUSIONS
After
analyzing
and
interpreting the data collected, the
following inferences are hereby
stated based on the findings:
1. The researchers concluded that
marginalized
women
with
psychographic
profile
of
heterosexual and past history of
family violence are considered to
be the abused woman in
Poblacion 4, Tanauan city,
Batangas. However, the partners
of the participants with positive
substance abuse and history of
criminal violence are considered
to be the abuser.
2. The researchers concluded that
the proposed factors posed
distinct indicator such as having
too strict partner in social
indicator; women with physical
injury like bruises in physical
indicator;
hopelessness
in
psychological
indicator
and
abuser controls all the money in
economic indicator.
3. The researchers concluded that
psychological indicators predict
change
in
behavior
of
marginalized women which result
to state of letting go and holding
on.
4. The researchers concluded that
psychographic profile of the
participants and their partners
has significant relationship to the

indicators of abuse in Poblacion

4, Tanauan City.
5. The
researchers
formulated
proposed action plans which are
the
Sustainable
Livelihood
Development of Marginalized
Women, Wellness Seminar for
Abused
Women
and
Empowering
Fatherhood
Values.
RECOMMENDATIONS
With the research performed
and in the light of the derived
conclusions,
the
following
recommendations
are
hereby
presented:

Philippine
Commission
on
Women
The
commission
should
continue in implementing their
program UNITE to End Violence
against Women. They should also
conduct seminar about the rights of
women and indicators of abuse
woman so that women will be more
aware and prevent the incidence of
abuse.

Women and Child Protection

Desk
Women and child protection
desk should continue to fulfill their
duties of promoting the safety of
women and monitoring the incidence
of abuse among women. They
should also conduct programs that
will help them in their goals for abuse
women.
Local Government Officials
They could help and support
the researchers in implementing
action plans regarding violence
against women. Every respected

barangay should have programs for

abused marginalized women.
Nursing Students
Being a counselor is part of
the nursing profession. Before
understanding others, an individual
must understand himself/herself first.
It is recommended for nursing
students to continue assessing
abused
marginalized
women
because indicators of abuse varied
from time to time. They should also
be promoters of positive self-esteem.
Future Researchers
This study is subjected for
continuous study to find other
indicators
of
abuse
among
marginalized women in different
barangays.
REFERENCES
Dockterman, E. (2014). Why Women
Stay: The Paradox of Abusive
Relationships. September 9, 2014
Famorca, Z., et al. (2013). Nursing
Care of the Community. Elsevier Pte
Ltd.
Fernandez, R. (2015). Experiments
with Truth and Non-violence: The
Dalai Lama in Exile from Tibet. 15
June 2015
Follingstad et al., (2016). Factors
Moderating
Physical
And
Psychological
Symptoms
Of
Battered Women. Springer link.
Retrieved January 29, 2016

Hidden
Hurt
Article.
(2015).
Domestic violence in rural Uganda:
Evidence from a community-based
study. Bull World Health Organ.
Hutchison, I. W. (2010). The
Influence of Alcohol and Drugs on
Womens Utilization of the Police for
Domestic Violence. The University of
North Carolina at Charlotte.
Ladewig,
P.,
et
al.
(2014).Contemporary
MaternalNewborn Nursing Care, Eighth
Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
Renzerri, C. (2011). Economic
Stress and Domestic Violence.
http://www.vawnet.org/appliedresearch-papers/print-docuent.php?
doc_id=2061
Robert & Chapman. (2012). Sexual
Assault Of Women: Prevention
Efforts And Risk Factors. Violence
Against Women, 10 (1):7393.
Shalu N. (2014). The Margins:
Revisiting
the
Concept
of
Marginalized
Women.Retrieved
January
10,
2016.www.countercurrents.org/niga
m030914html
Smith, M. & Segal, J. (2016).
Domestic Violence and Abuse Signs
of Abuse and Abusive Relationships.
Helpguide.org