Institutional Sexism Against Women Subjected to Gender-Based Violence and their Children. An International Systematic Review.

Abstract

Institutional sexism emerges as a globally pervasive phenomenon, adversely affecting women subjected to gender-based violence. This societal harm demands scrupulous investigation to curtail its occurrence. To this end, a meticulous synthesis and scrutiny of international literature was undertaken via a systematic review, in adherence to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis declaration and standards, employing an inductive content analysis methodology. This exhaustive enquiry spanned esteemed databases, namely Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and PsycINFO, culminating in a total of 478 references, from which 27 select articles were rigorously examined. The Rayyan utility was instrumental in streamlining data organization and extraction, while textual coding and data analysis were accomplished through Atlas.ti. The review protocol was preregistered with PROSPERO, the International prospective register of systematic reviews (ID CRD42023436945). The outcomes highlight the critical need for states to give precedence to the development of policies that champion gender equality. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a pronounced deficiency in understanding the dynamics of gender-based violence, as well as a conspicuous neglect of feminist and intersectional perspectives by professionals within the legal and social realms.