Ethical issues in a socio-demographic study of male involvement in domestic violence in Mexico

Juan Manuel Contreras, Independent Consultant

A socio-demographic study of male involvement in domestic violence (DV) was conducted in Mexico aimed at analysing the role of factors associated with DV. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Special attention was given during the research to ethical considerations established by the Belmont Report and the Ethical Guidelines for DV research by WHO. Main issues considered were to: ensure security of participants and community; guarantee privacy, confidentiality and anonymity; obtain voluntary and autonomous participation; avoid re-traumatisation, misunderstandings and distressful situations; minimise underreporting; and to avoid exploitation of participants. Practical procedures were used to cope with these issues, however several ethical debates arose during the fieldwork. The main lessons learned relate to the power relationship between interviewers and respondents, the understanding of the cultural context of research settings, the rights of participants, the obligations of researchers to the community and the real value of the research for the community.