In Turkey, 26 percent of women were married before the age of 18; It was determined that physical violence was 48 percent among women who married early and 31 percent among women who married after the age of 18.
Work is continuing to prepare 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 Population Studies Institute.
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 across the country who stated that they were exposed to physical violence was 36 percent; It was determined that 4 out of every 10 women were exposed to physical violence by their husbands or intimate partners.
According to the research, the region where physical violence was mentioned most was Central Anatolia, and the region where it was mentioned least was Eastern Black Sea. The prevalence of exposure to severe violent behavior is highest in Central Anatolia and Western Anatolia.
While the rate of exposure to sexual violence across Turkey is determined to be 12 percent, the regions where sexual violence is most frequently expressed are Central Anatolia, Eastern Marmara, Western Marmara and Western Black Sea. “Women having sexual intercourse even though they don’t want to, because they are afraid” was the most frequently expressed sexual violence behavior.
44 percent of the women participating in the research reported 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 that divorced or separated women are exposed to is 75 percent, which is twice the rate of violence experienced among all women.” “This situation suggests that violence itself may be the reason for divorce.”
It was determined that the level of violence experienced by unmarried but partnered women was 7 percent.
In the preliminary report, it was stated that the violence that women are exposed to decreases as the level of education increases, but it is noteworthy that more than a quarter of high school graduates and one fifth of women with a university degree or higher are exposed to physical and sexual violence.
According to the research, it was determined that 26 percent of women in Turkey were married before the age of 18, while there was a significant relationship between the age of marriage and the level of violence, and physical violence was 48 percent among women who married early and 31 percent among women who married after the age of 18.
19 percent of women who married at an early age and 10 percent of women who married after the age of 18 were subjected to sexual violence; It was determined that half of the women who married early were exposed to physical and/or sexual violence.
It seems that “family decision” is effective in early marriages, and “own will” is effective in marriages after the age of 18. While “official and religious marriage” came to the fore in marriages in both periods, it was revealed that the rate of increasing the age for marriage in early marriages was 13.3 percent.
”Men become more violent as they get older”
According to the research, as the age of men increases, the proportion of those who have committed physical violence also 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 are no significant differences in the percentage of physical and sexual violence between men who are employed and those who are not.
According to the research, 9 percent of women are exposed to sexual abuse during childhood, before the age of 15, 29 percent of the abuse is from male relatives, and 38 percent is from strangers.
It is mostly the fathers who prevent women, 32 percent of whom say that they are “prevented from attending school”, from participating in working life.
Approximately 3 out of every 10 women in Türkiye are subjected to stalking at least once. The most common forms of persistent stalking include “constant phone calls, sending text messages, letters or e-mails, following through social media, and disturbing the woman by coming to the place where she works or lives.” These types of tracking are mostly carried out by “strangers”.
“Threatening to commit suicide if she doesn’t meet”, “Threatening the woman if she doesn’t meet”, “Threatening to harm the woman’s children or family if she doesn’t meet” are mostly done by the woman’s ex-husband or her partner.
“Physical violence” still occurs during pregnancy
The research revealed that one quarter of women exposed to physical and/or sexual violence were injured as a result of violence. It was determined that this rate was 6 percent higher in women living in cities than in women living in rural areas.
It was revealed that among women who were exposed to violence, those who reported their health status as “bad or very bad” were twice as likely as women who were not exposed to violence.
One-third of women exposed to violence have “thought of committing suicide” at some point in their lives; It was revealed that women who were victims of violence were five times more likely to attempt suicide than women who did not experience this victimization.
According to the results of the same research conducted in 2008, exposure to physical violence during pregnancy, which was 10 percent, was found to be 8 percent according to the results of the research in 2014.
The rate of women who have been subjected to physical violence during pregnancy, at 11 percent, is highest among women living in the Northeastern Anatolia region, who are uneducated or have not completed primary school, and who are at a low welfare level. (AA)