Awareness of and Attitudes Towards Domestic Violence in Turkish Society

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify domestic violence awareness and attitudes towards violence among adult individuals in Turkish society.
 Materials and Methods. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted online between September 15, 2021 and November 15, 2021 and included 353 individuals. The data were collected using the snowball sampling method, the Google Forms, the Socio-Demographic Descriptive Information Form, the Domestic Violence Awareness Scale, and the Attitudes Towards Domestic Violence (ADV) Scale. For data analysis, the number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Student’s t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), post hoc (Tukey, LSD) analyses, Cohen’s d and Eta squared (η 2) coefficients, and correlation analysis were used.
 Results. Most research participants were females (79.0%), with the average age of 30.53 ± 13.11 years. Of all the participants, 56.9% stated that they witnessed domestic violence, 22.7% stated that they experienced violence against women, 8.2% stated that they used violence. While the mean Domestic Violence Awareness Scale score was calculated as 41.09 ± 3.98, the mean score of the ADV Scale was calculated as 20.18 ± 7.82. The scores of domestic violence awareness differed significantly depending on education level (p=0.042; η 2=0.018). The scores of women’s attitude towards domestic violence (19.10) were lower than those in men (24.26) (p=0.05; d=0.684; η2=0.072). Participants’ attitudes towards domestic violence varied significantly by family type (p=0.006; η2=0.029), education level (p=0.007; η2=0.028), and occupation (p=0.007; η2=0.040). There was a significant positive relationship between awareness of and attitudes towards domestic violence (r=0.226).
 Conclusions. Study participants had a high sense of awareness towards domestic violence and a negative attitude towards violence. Their awareness of domestic violence was affected by education level, while their attitudes towards domestic violence was affected by gender, type of family, education level, and occupation.