Social support networks for women in situation of intimate partner violence

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze the possibilities of support that the social support network offers to women in situations of intimate partner violence. Methods: qualitative research anchored in Sanicola’s social network framework. A total of 21 women attended at a specialized social assistance service in Porto Velho-Rondônia, Brazil, participated in a semi-structured interview. Results: the analysis of network maps showed that the secondary social support network mobilized had a central character in the lives of women in situations of violence. These women sought the third sector’s secondary network, the churches, from which they received emotional-affective and spiritual support. Final Considerations: understanding the social network setting and the type of support offered can contribute to improving care for women and strengthening interpersonal and institutional ties that help in the search for breaking the situation of violence.