Implementation of a therapeutic programme for women who are victims of intimate partner violence at Bolivian Municipal Services

Abstract

Gender based violence committed against women by their current partners or former partner is a scourge that plagues all societies with terrible consequences, especially for the victim ́s physical and emotional health. Due the complexity of this type of abuse and the magnitude of its consequences, women victims of gender violence require comprehensive, multidisciplinary and specialized care. The Municipal Autonomous Government of La Paz (Bolivia), with objective of assisting victims of gender violence, through the Municipal Integrated Legal Services (SLIM), in 2014 began the implementation of a therapeutic care program for victims of gender based violence, being the first in all Bolivia to offer this psychological therapy service to women victims of abuse by their current partners or former partners. This paper analyzes the first two years of the implementation of the therapeutic program with the aim of improving the service and making society aware of its need, especially for the personnel responsible of this subjects, so that the program of therapeutic care for women Victims of gender based violence is expanded and can be replicated in other parts of Bolivia.