Obstacles towards gender violence comprehension: Influence of sexism and academic training in gender issues

Abstract

Gender violence is a highly important social and political concern. Distorted beliefs about it are obstacles towards its comprehension and an important risk factor for its tolerance and maintenance. Some professionals often deal with gender violence issues. Thus, it is necessary to identify these obstacles towards the comprehension about gender violence and factors affecting them. The aim of this study was to analyze the existence of obstacles towards gender violence comprehension in law university students. We also investigated the impact of participants’ gender, sexist attitudes and gender education on the presence of these obstacles. One-hundred and forty seven law university students completed an anonymous and voluntary survey. Results from regression analysis evidenced that both men and women have obstacles towards gender violence comprehension. Males showed a higher level of obstacles than females. Also, hostile sexism of both, men and women, and men´s benevolent sexism levels were positively related with a higher presence of obstacles. Finally, having received training related to gender violence acted as a protective factor that was associated with lower obstacles towards gender violence comprehension.