Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy in Turkey: Determinants From Nationwide Surveys

Domestic violence has severe consequences for women, both psychologically and physiologically. Violence during pregnancy is even riskier, endangering women’s lives and the lives of their fetuses. A nationwide survey in Turkey in 2014 revealed that 7% of women who have experienced a pregnancy were exposed to physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner during pregnancy. In this study, the risk and protective factors for this particular type of violence and how it can be addressed in Turkey are discussed using nationally representative data for the first time. Data are obtained from surveys conducted in 2008 and 2014 on domestic violence against women. The analysis is based on multinomial regression models in which the dependent variable consists of three groups of women: those who have not been exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV), those whose have been exposed to physical IPV but not during pregnancy, and those who have been exposed to physical IPV during pregnancy. In this way, the factors that have a significant effect on this severe form of violence can be identified. Our findings show that earlier age of first intercourse; the nature of first intercourse; men’s affairs; men’s controlling behaviors over women; men’s use of alcohol, drugs, or gambling; and experience with violence in the family are all significant factors for IPV during pregnancy. Women’s empowerment and the restructuring of the unequal power relations between women and men should be targeted to eradicate the problem in the long run. It is concluded that, for the time being, it is crucial to ensure that legal procedures for domestic violence function well and that health institutions are key components in identifying pregnant women exposed to violence and in guiding them toward institutional and social support mechanisms.