An evaluation of victim registration forms for domestic violence against women

Abstract

Objective: The present study attempted to reveal the sociodemographic information, characteristics of violence exposed, and risk situations among women exposed to violence through the data obtained from the victim registration forms and generate a source for further research to prevent violence against women.Methods: In this descriptive study, the victim registration forms (1222 cases) of women applying to emergency departments in Burdur city due to domestic violence is utilized. Then, the data analyzed by using IBM SPSS version 20.0 and presented the descriptive data as numbers, percentages, means, standard deviations, and minimum and maximum values.Results: It was found that almost all cases (93.6%) were exposed to physical violence alone or combined with other forms of violence. The women were exposed to violence at home where they should live safely (88.1%) and from the ones they trust (97.2%; spouse/lover/ family member). About half of the women (51.6%) were exposed to violence in front of their children, and 18.0% of the children got their shares from the violence. It was also discovered that 9.7% of the women had been exposed to violence for more than ten years. Finally, it was concluded that 64.5% of the women had a high risk of being exposed to violence again soon.Conclusion: Regardless of their educational attainment and socioeconomic status, women are often exposed to violence from childhood to advanced ages. Overall, further awareness-raising activities are needed to prevent all segments of society from all kinds of violence.