Married Adult’s Attitude Towards Domestic Violence: Turkish Experience

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Domestic violence (DV) is a global problem with drastic effects on social life, representing a public health problem. The aim of this study is to evaluate the attitudes of married women and men towards DV in Turkey. Method: Attitude questions were directed to a group of male and female mar ried individuals as a part of the Turkish Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) in 1998. Participants were asked to express their opinions and attitudes about certain pre-determined scenarios, in an effort to ascertain whether violence against married women is justified or not by these individuals. Results: The TDHS 1998 included 5893 married women and 1971 married men. DV was approved by 50.7% and 56.9% of the married women and men, respectively. Approval rates of DV for any reason were highest among the youngest group of married individuals (male and female) and among the oldest married men. In addition, there was higher rate of approval for DV among married women from central and eastern Turkey, and from married men from eastern and southern Turkey. Higher level of education was associated with less approval for married men and women. Certain ex pressed views on social norms were associated with a significantly higher rate of approval for DV among married men and women. Conclusion: This study underscores the need for adequately identifying and assessing DV in Turkey. The victim blaming attitudes were common. Deter mining an individual’s disposition to commit DV by health care professionals would allow proactive preventive measures to be taken and to assess the risk level. This also will help sensitize the concerned agencies to implement and impose the necessary laws related to DV.