ABSTRACT
Objective:
to unveil the reasons why women stay in marital relationships marked by violence.
Method:
a qualitative study, grounded on the Oral History method, carried out with 29 women victims of marital violence monitored by a Court of Domestic and Family Violence against Women in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The data were collected between September and December 2020 through individual interviews and analyzed in the light of the Theory of Everyday Life.
Results:
the women’s Oral History points to non-perception of the abuse situation at the beginning of the relationship and reveals the belief in the possibility of controlling the episodes of violence and the impairment of psycho-emotional health. The expectation that the partner will change his position in marital everyday life is added to this.
Conclusion:
the narratives unveil the complexity involved in the repetition of everyday life, which means that many women, even though they already recognize themselves as experiencing violence, are unable to break the relationship.
DESCRIPTORS:
Violence against Women; Violence by Intimate Partner; Public Health; Nursing; Qualitative Research