Risk Factors of Domestic Violence in Iran

Background:World health organization (WHO) stated that domestic violence (DV) is a health-related priority. Despite the unpleasant consequences of violence, this matter still is not considered serious enough in many countries including Iran. Objectives: To better understand the issues, the current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of domestic violence in Iranian families. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, according to a previous study, four provinces with the highest rate of the violence and one province with the least rate of violence in Iran were selected. The subjects who met the including criteria and attended the selected health care centers of these provinces were invited to complete the demographic questionnaire and domestic violence questionnaire, a researcher-made questionnaire which measured frequency of different types of domestic violence life long, and during the last year . Finally 2056 filled questionnaires were collected. Results: Lifetime and last year prevalence of domestic violence was 52%. Nearly half of the subjects (47%) reported the presence of DV from their spouse in day to day life. In this study, only 3% of respondents had sought help for violence. Illiteracy, low income, lower age at marriage, shorter duration of marriage, physical disease, mental disorder and substance use were significantly prevalent in the group with higher rate of DV. Conclusions: The prevalence of DV is quite high in Iran; however, its disclosure is very low.