Exposure to Domestic Violence Between Parents: A Perspective From Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Women may bear the brunt of domestic violence, but children are also inflicted by the consequences of violence between their parents. We sought to evaluate the lifetime prevalence of exposure to physical violence between parents among some senior secondary school students in Tehran. The study was conducted on senior secondary school students in all 19 educational districts of the Iranian capital, Tehran, in the academic year of 2005-06 using a multi-stage sampling. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 1,495 students participated in this survey, with the prevalence estimated at 22.8%. More than half of the subjects had witnessed domestic violence between their parents; the prevalence of exposure among the girls was twice that among the boys. The most frequent act of violence was beating the partner with bare hands and the perpetrators of the violent acts were predominantly the fathers. Exposure was long-lasting; and in those with more than one exposure, the mean duration of exposure was 5.1 years. The most prevalent rates of exposure to domestic violence came from Educational Districts 15 and 10. The fact that a considerable portion of the teenagers in the present study had witnessed physical violence between their parents bears testimony to the high frequency of this form of violence in Tehran households. It is noteworthy that the socio-economic status of the families and parental divorce and estrangement increased the likelihood of exposure to domestic violence in our series.

Fatores associados à violência física por parceiro íntimo em usuárias de serviços de saúde

“…1,6,10,16,17 Having witnessed violence against the respondent's or her partner's mother greatly increases the risk of IPV. The social reproduction of family violence can be trivialized and naturalized as part of relationships during the process of children socialization, 3 as well as being abused during childhood, which was found as a signifi cant factor for the risk of being the perpetrator.…”

Fatores associados à violência física por parceiro íntimo em usuárias de serviços de saúde

“…3 Witnessing one's mother being abused by her partner is an important risk factor, and is signifi cantly associated with an increased risk of about fi ve times in IPV. 1,6,10,16,17 Having witnessed violence against the respondent's or her partner's mother greatly increases the risk of IPV. The social reproduction of family violence can be trivialized and naturalized as part of relationships during the process of children socialization, 3 as well as being abused during childhood, which was found as a signifi cant factor for the risk of being the perpetrator.…”

Risk Factors of Domestic Violence in Iran

“…The lifetime prevalence of domestic violence was reported to be lower in a previous study in Tehran that estimated the occurrence of IPV in 22.8% of families [11]. That study was conducted on high school students, asking them about their parents in all 19 educational districts of Tehran in 2005.…”

“…Another study has looked at children to evaluate the lifetime prevalence of exposure to physical violence among parents [11]. 22.8% of the 1,495 high school students from Tehran reported they had witnessed instances of domestic violence between their parents.…”