In Turkey, 26 percent of women got married before the age of 18; It was determined that physical violence was 48 percent among women who got married early, and 31 percent among women who got married after the age of 18.
Studies continue for the preparation of the main report of the “Research on Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey” conducted by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies and Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies.
According to the summary report of the research shared with non-governmental organizations, the study was prepared by interviewing 7 thousand 462 women between the ages of 15-59 in 15 thousand 84 households in 78 provinces.
According to the research, the rate of ever-married women who state that they have been subjected to physical violence throughout the country is 36 percent; It was determined that 4 out of 10 women were exposed to physical violence by their husbands or intimate partners.
According to the research, Central Anatolia was the region where physical violence was mentioned the most, and the Eastern Black Sea region was the region where it was least mentioned. The prevalence of exposure to violent acts of violence is mostly seen in Central and Western Anatolia.
While the rate of exposure to sexual violence in Turkey is 12 percent, the regions where sexual violence is expressed the most are Central Anatolia, East Marmara, West Marmara and West Black Sea. The most frequently expressed sexual violence behavior was “The woman’s having sexual intercourse because she is afraid, even though she does not want to”.
44 percent of the women participating in the study experienced emotional violence; 30 percent stated that they were exposed to economic violence.
‘Marital status affects the rate of violence’
In the preliminary report, it was stated that marital status is the main feature that has the greatest impact on the level of violence and said, “The level of physical and/or sexual violence experienced by divorced or separated women is 75 percent, twice the rate of violence among all women. This situation makes us think that violence itself may be the reason for divorce.
It was determined that the level of violence experienced by unmarried women who had intercourse was 7 percent.
In the preliminary report, in which it was stated that as the level of education increased, the violence experienced by women decreased, it was noted that despite this, more than a quarter of high school graduate women and one fifth of women with university or higher education were exposed to physical and sexual violence.
According to the study, while it was determined that 26 percent of women in Turkey got married before the age of 18, it was seen that there was a significant relationship between the age of marriage and the level of violence, and that physical violence was at the level of 48 percent among women who married early and 31 percent among women who married after the age of 18.
19 percent of women who get married at an early age and 10 percent of women who get married after the age of 18 are subject to sexual violence; It was determined that half of the women who married early were exposed to physical and/or sexual violence.
It is seen that “family decision” is effective in early marriages and “self-will” in marriages after the age of 18. While “civil and religious marriage” came to the fore in marriages in both periods, it was revealed that the rate of raising the age for marriage in early marriages was 13.3 percent.
‘Men use more violence as they get older’
According to the study, as the age of men increases, the proportion of those who have used physical violence increases. However, a different age pattern emerges for sexual violence. Men in the youngest age group commit more sexual violence than men aged 25-34 and 35-44.
There is no significant difference in the percentages of physical and sexual violence between employed and non-paid men.
According to the research, 9 percent of women are exposed to sexual abuse in childhood before the age of 15, 29 percent of abuse is directed by male relatives and 38 percent by strangers they do not know.
While 32 percent of women state that they are “prevented from attending school”, it is mostly their fathers who prevent them from participating in working life.
Around 3 out of 10 women across Turkey are exposed to persistent stalking at least once. The most common forms of stalking include “constant phone calls, text messages, letters or e-mails, stalking through social media, and harassing women by coming to where they work or live”. Such forms of tracking are mostly carried out by “foreigners”.
“Don’t threaten to commit suicide if she doesn’t get to see her”, “Don’t threaten her if she doesn’t get to see her”, “Threatening to harm the woman’s children or family if she doesn’t talk” is mostly done by the woman’s ex-husband or partner.
‘Physical violence’ still occurs during pregnancy
The research revealed that a quarter of women who have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence have been injured as a result of violence. It was determined that this rate was 6 percent higher for women living in the city than those living in rural areas.
It turned out that among the women who were exposed to violence, those who stated their health status as “poor or very bad” were twice as likely as the women who had not been subjected to violence.
One third of women who have been subjected to violence “contemplate suicide” at any point in their lives; It has been revealed that “attempted suicide” among women who are victims of violence is five times more common than women who have not experienced this victimization.
According to the results of the same research conducted in 2008, exposure to physical violence during pregnancy, which was 10 percent, was determined as 8 percent according to the results of the research in 2014.
The proportion of women who have been subjected to physical violence during pregnancy, with 11 percent, is among the women living in the Northeast Anatolia region, with no education or who have not completed primary school, and at low wealth level. (AA)