Benavides, Martín; Paloma Bellatin y Robin Cavagnoud (2017). Social protection systems and domestic violence in poor urban contexts: the case of San Juan de Lurigancho. Nopoor Working Paper, 56.

In Peru approximately four out of ten women has suffered from any kind of violence from their partners. In spite of the development of a social protection system in the country, according to the DHS, only 25% of women sought help. This problem of lack of access to the social protection system might be related to different factors. One can consider individual reasons, community level reasons but also institutional problems related to the supply of the public system in the country.

Using an ecological approach that combines different levels of analysis, the purpose of this paper is then to understand why the social protection system related to violence is not working well in local neighborhoods. Specifically we will analyze why women do not denounce the acts of violence against them. The case study will be based in San Juan de Lurigancho a neighborhood in metropolitan Lima, where according to our own research the rate of violence toward women is even bigger than national average. Our methodology is qualitative and has included ethnographic work, in depth interviews and visits to public institutions.