Domestic violence against women in Sivas, Turkey: survey study

Aim

To determine the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence and associated risk factors in the Sivas province of Turkey.

Method

Five hundred and eighty-three households were chosen by the method of stratified random sampling. The average age among women was 28.65 ± 4.64. A total of 45.3% of women were in 30-34 age-group, 76.5% were housewives, and 91.2% were married. The data were gathered by performing face-to-face interviews in participants’ homes. Demographic data were obtained by fill-in forms.

Results

We found a statistically significant relationship among the types of violence and annual income, type of family, education and occupation level of women, education level of perpetrators, watching violent films, and childhood experience of emotional abuse or negligence. Fifty-two percent of women were exposed to at least one type of violence. Verbal violence was the most frequent type of violence (53.8%), followed by physical violence (38.3%). About 45% of women exposed to violence were in the 30-34 age group, 41.6% completed only primary schools, 73.6% were housewives, 91.7% were married, 71.0% had been exposed to violence during their childhood, and 45.2%, had been exposed to violence several times in a month. Economic problems were reported as the most important reason for domestic violence (31.4%).

Conclusion

Our study found higher prevalence of domestic violence than expected. As an important public health problem, domestic violence requires multidisciplinary approach to understand its causes and plan preventive measures.Domestic violence against women is a serious public health concern in every community and culture (1). Domestic violence against women has drawn attention from the medical community because it has a negative and harmful impact on the mental, physical, and social health of women (2-5). World Health Organization (WHO) has defined domestic violence as “the range of sexually, psychologically, and physically coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by current or former male intimate partners” (6,7). It is often difficult to conduct research on violence against women, since most women are reluctant to disclose information they consider confidential and intimate. They often feel shame, fear, guilt, and do not want to be disloyal to their partners (8). Besides this, differences in prevalence patterns can occur, because of different survey methods.Violence cannot be attributed to a single cause. According to the ecological model, factors related to violence are covered under four subtitles: 1) biological and personal factors; 2) close relationships, intimate partner; 3) the community context; and 4) the broad societal factors (3,9,10). However, this model only is not sufficient to explain violence and its characteristics.There is a number of studies highlighting the problem of domestic violence in the developing countries (8,10-13). Some studies showed a strong association between socioeconomic status and domestic violence, indicating a significant inverse relation between the income or education level of the male partner and violence (14). Some studies reported that women with greater autonomy, higher educational level, and control over economical resources are more protected against violence (3). However, in many families the husband is the sole decision-maker and the only one in control over financial matters (2,3,15,16). Experiencing abuse or witnessing domestic violence in childhood often turns individuals into either victims or perpetrators, thus closing the vicious circle of domestic violence. According to some studies, large families or larger number of children is associated with a reduced risk of domestic violence (11,17).It has been reported that one out of five women in South Australia has been exposed to domestic violence in forms of physical and/or sexual abuse (18). Violence against women in North America is still prevalent, with lifetime prevalence of 40%-51% (19). The rate of physical violence is higher in developing than in developed countries. The rate of women who are exposed to violence by their husbands is 45% in India, 47% in Philippines, 52% in Kenya (20). In Arab and Islamic countries, domestic violence is not yet considered a major concern, although its frequency is quite high. Surveys carried out in those countries have shown that the ratio of women who have been exposed to violence by their husbands is at least one in three women (21).Domestic violence is an increasingly important issue in Turkey as in the rest of the world. It has gained its importance since 1970, and in the mid 1980s it was brought to the public agenda for discussion. The first collective reaction of women against violence was the march of “No Violence” campaign performed in 1987. This was followed by reactions in “Kariye Women Festival” in 1987. In Turkey, violence is perceived as a discipline tool, which lead to legitimization of violence within the family and society that reproduces and camouflages violence. There are legal provisions accepting the legitimacy of domestic violence. In Turkish Criminal Law, there is no special provision for domestic violence. It is easier for a woman to complain to the formal authorities about violence in the street than about domestic violence.A study including 300 married women treated in the psychiatric outpatient clinic of the Hospital of Cumhuriyet University showed that domestic violence against women was highly prevalent and that women were trying to hide it (22). The study determined that 57% of women in the 16-29 age group were exposed to physical violence. The prevalence of emotional violence was 36%, economical 32%, sexual 30.7%, and verbal 29.3%.According to data from the Institution of Family Research (23), 35% of women in Turkey experienced physical violence from their husbands. According to the research, domestic violence was common to all socio-economical levels both in urban and rural areas. Among the causes of domestic violence reported, there were economical difficulties, temperament of the husbands, and provocation of husbands by their relatives. However, we do exactly not know which factors affect the prevalence of domestic violence in Turkey. As far as we know, there is no study investigating the relationship between domestic violence and childhood traumas. In this study, we aimed to determine the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence and the associated risk factors in the Sivas province in Turkey.