No effect of unemployment on intimate partner-related femicide during the financial crisis: a longitudinal ecological study in Spain

Background: Spain’s financial crisis has been characterized by an increase in unemployment. This increase could have produced an increase in deaths of women due to intimate partner-related femicides (IPF). This study aims to determine whether the increase in unemployment among both sexes in different regions in Spain is related to an increase in the rates of IPF during the current financial crisis period. Methods: An ecological longitudinal study was carried out in Spain’s 17 regions. Two study periods were defined: pre-crisis period (2005–2007) and crisis period (2008–2013). IPF rates adjusted by age and unemployment rates for men and women were calculated. We fitted multilevel linear regression models in which observations at level 1 were nested within regions according to a repeated measurements design. Results: Rates of unemployment have progressively increased in Spain, rising above 20 % from 2008 to 2013 in some regions. IPF rates decreased in some regions during crisis period with respect to pre-crisis period. The multilevel analysis does not support the existence of a significant relationship between the increase in unemployment in men and women and the decrease in IPF since 2008. Discussion: The increase in unemployment in men and women in Spain does not appear to have an effect on IPF. The results of the multilevel analysis discard the hypothesis that the increase in the rates of unemployment in women and men are related to an increase in IPF rates. Conclusions: The decline in IPF since 2008 might be interpreted as the result of exposure to other factors such as the lower frequency of divorces in recent years or the medium term effects of the integral protection measures of the law on gender violence that began in 2005.

Watershed ecological risk assessment.

Mode of access: Internet.

Environmental effects of increased coal utilization : ecological effects of gaseous emissions from coal combustion /

Mode of access: Internet.

Application of numerical classification in ecological investigations of water pollution /

Mode of access: Internet.

Procedures for quantitative ecological assessments in intertidal environments /

Mode of access: Internet.

The ecological condition of estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico /

"July 1999."

Summary report on issues in ecological risk assessment /

Mode of access: Internet.

Ecological studies of fish near a coal-fired generating station and related laboratory studies : Wisconsin power plant impact study /

"Grant no. R803971."

Ecological monitoring of beach erosion control projects, Broward County, Florida, and adjacent areas /

"February 1974."

Report on the Ecological Risk Assessment Guidelines Strategic Planning Workshop.

Mode of access: Internet.

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Ecological Aspects of Tree-Ring Analysis, August 17-21, 1986, Marymount College, Tarrytown, New York /

Mode of access: Internet.

Ecological assessment of hazardous waste sites : a field and laboratory reference /

Mode of access: Internet.

Bioindicators for assessing ecological integrity of prairie wetlands /

"July 1996."

The ecological impact of synthetic organic compounds on esturine ecosystems /

Subject Profile Index: p.169-353.

Ecological-economic modeling for biodiversity management: Potential, pitfalls, and prospects

Ecologists and economists both use models to help develop strategies for biodiversity management. The practical use of disciplinary models, however, can be limited because ecological models tend not to address the socioeconomic dimension of biodiversity management, whereas economic models tend to neglect the ecological dimension. Given these shortcomings of disciplinary models, there is a necessity to combine ecological and economic knowledge into ecological-economic models. It is insufficient if scientists work separately in their own disciplines and combine their knowledge only when it comes to formulating management recommendations. Such an approach does not capture feedback loops between the ecological and the socioeconomic systems. Furthermore, each discipline poses the management problem in its own way and comes up with its own most appropriate solution. These disciplinary solutions, however are likely to be so different that a combined solution considering aspects of both disciplines cannot be found. Preconditions for a successful model-based integration of ecology and economics include (1) an in-depth knowledge of the two disciplines, (2) the adequate identification and framing of the problem to be investigated, and (3) a common understanding between economists and ecologists of modeling and scale. To further advance ecological-economic modeling the development of common benchmarks, quality controls, and refereeing standards for ecological-economic models is desirable.