Gender-sensitive reporting in medical research

Sex and gender differences influence the health and wellbeing of men and women. Although studies have drawn attention to observed differences between women and men across diseases, remarkably little research has been pursued to systematically investigate these underlying sex differences. Women continue to be underrepresented in clinical trials, and even in studies in which both men and women participate, systematic analysis of data to identify potential sex-based differences is lacking. Standards for reporting of clinical trials have been established to ensure provision of complete, transparent and critical information. An important step in addressing the gender imbalance would be inclusion of a gender perspective in the next Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline revision. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as a set of well-recognized and widely used guidelines for authors and biomedical journals, should similarly emphasize the ethical obligation of authors to present data analyzed by gender as a matter of routine. Journal editors are also promoters of ethical research and adequate standards of reporting, and requirements for inclusion of gender analyses should be integrated into editorial policies as a matter of urgency.

Factors Associated With Women’s Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence in Spain

In Spain, in 2013, the 20% of women who were murdered by their partner had reported him previously. We analyze the 2011 Spanish-Macrosurvey on Gender Violence to identify and analyze the prevalence of and the principal factors associated with reporting a situation of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the main reasons women cite for not filing such reports, or for subsequently deciding to withdraw their complaint. Overall, 72.8% of women exposed to IPV did not report their aggressor. The most frequent reasons for not reporting were not giving importance to the situation (33.9%), and fear and lack of trust in the reporting process (21.3%). The main reasons for withdrawing the complaint were cessation of the violence (20.0%), and fear and threats (18.2%). The probability of reporting increased among women with young children who were abused, prevalence ratio (95% confidence interval [CI]): 2.14 [1.54, 2.98], and those whose mother was abused, prevalence ratio (95% CI): 2.25 [1.42, 3.57]. Always focusing on the need to protect women who report abuse, it is necessary to promote the availability of and access to legal resources especially among women who use them less: women who do not have children and women who do not have previous family exposure to violence.