Introduction: Violence against women is a public health problem for which exposure to this phenomenon has negative consequences on the victim’s health, regardless of the type. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of intimate partner violence against women throughout life, and its association with life experiences. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, analytical, population-based study carried out in the city of Vitória, capital city of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The municipality has 79 districts and six health regions. The sample consisted of 1,086 women aged 18 years or older, who had or had an intimate partner in the last 24 months prior to the interview, which took place between January and May 2022. An intimate partner was defined in this study as the partner or ex- current partner and/or boyfriend as long as they maintain sexual relations, regardless of whether it is a formal union or not. Data collection was performed by a properly trained team, all female. The research team also had supervisors. The analyzes were done in the Stata version 15.1 program. The study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee. Results: The lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence against women was 47.8% (95%CI 44.8-50.8). Psychological violence was the most frequent (45.2%; 95%CI 42.3-48.2), followed by physical violence (25.6%; 95%CI 23.1-28.3). Sexual violence had the lowest frequency (17.2%; 95%CI 15.1-19.6). Women with a history of mothers who suffered intimate partner violence and who were sexually victimized in childhood had a higher prevalence of psychological, physical and sexual violence committed by an intimate partner (p<0.05). Conclusion: Intimate partner violence is a prevalent event in a woman’s life, and is associated with the experience of intergenerational and personal victimization.