Lethal violence against women in southern Brazil: Spatial analysis and associated factors.

Objective: estimate the risk for the occurrence of lethal violence against women and to identify the associated factors in the state of Paraná.

Method: ecological study of deaths of women aged between 15 and 59 years, victims of aggression. The units of analysis were the cities of Paraná. Latent Bayesian Gaussian models with negative binomial probability distribution were used. The modeling considered intercept, spatial random effects and covariates, performed with the deterministic Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations approach.

Results: There was a positive association between lethal violence against women and the percentage of mothers who were heads of households. Finally, male homicide rates, rates of non-lethal violence against women and the cities with women mayors and councilors were also associated.

Conclusion: This type of violence was associated with low education, structural violence and the participation of women in politics.