dc.description.abstract | Domestic violence in Peru is becoming more recurrent and brutal, with a total of 181,885 cases being
reported to the Women’s Emergency Center in 2019, equating to approximately 400 cases per day. Those
who work directly with victims of domestic violence, who are considered to be front-line workers, have an
enormous task in helping these victims during their process of recovery, and in assuring their safety and
protection going forward. In order to understand the importance of the work performed by these front-line
workers, it is crucial to understand their perspectives. The study reported on in this thesis took the
perspectives of front-line workers with different professional backgrounds into consideration.
The aim of this research was to unfold the experiences of front-line workers through interviews, and reveal
their perspectives on working directly with victims of domestic violence. There was also an attempt to
describe their feelings towards their institutions and government actions.
The findings show that a deep study on the problem of domestic violence in Peru is needed. It was
revealed that dissatisfaction and discomfort among front-line workers revolves around the lack of training
programs and educational processes for workers, heavy workloads and low salaries. It was also
highlighted that there was little interest in the mental health of the front-line workers by public institutions.
Despite these points, the front-line workers expressed commitment to their work. | en |