Malatya Kent Merkezinde Ya？ayan Yeti？kin Kad？nlarda Aile ？？i ？iddet S？kl？？？ ve Etkileyen Fakt？rler

Abstract Objective: The objective of the present study is to examine the prevalence of domestic violence that women living in a provincial centre in the eastern part of Turkey are exposed to and factors associated with this form of violence. Method: The study is a cross-sectional survey conducted in October-November 2016 with 479 adult women living at the province centre of Malatya. The survey used domestic violence questionnaire form whose validity was checked at national level through the Delphi technique. The sample was selected from among women applying to 39 Family Health Centres located at the city. Findings: Of women in the sample, 63% were married, 29% were single, and 7.9% were divorced or lost their husbands. 22.3% of these women have faced a form of domestic violence in various periods of their life. Exposure to violence varied statistically with respect to such characteristics of women as marital status, level of education, occupation and age. 55% of perpetrators of acts of violence were husbands. 80% of victims of violence stated that they did not report the case for maintaining family unity. Objection to some request of the husband, economic factors, alcohol abuse and honour were given as the leading causes of violence. Conclusion: The survey found the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence as lower than what national data suggest. Spouses were the main perpetrators of violence. The prevalence of violence is associated with low social status. Key words: Domestic violence, Woman, Adul