Physical violence against women in southern Tunisia: Epidemiology and risk factors

Violence against women is a widespread offense worldwide. It causes serious physical, psychological, and medico-legal repercussions. We aim to specify the socio-demographic characteristics of female victims of physical violence well as the medical consequences and risk factors related to serious physical violence against women in Tunisia. This is a retrospective study including all women victims of physical violence, examined on judicial requisition at the Forensic Department of Habib Bourguiba University Hospital in Sfax, over two years (March 1st, 2018 to February 29th, 2020). Physical violence is considered serious whena forensic specialist predicts long term effects at the lesional stage (determining partial permanent disability: PPD). In our study, 2909 women were victims of physical violence. The average age of the victims was 34 ± 13 years (extremes:2 and94 years). The majority of victims were married (83.3%), jobless (52.5%), and of an urban origin (72.7%). Physical violence predominated in summer and autumn with a peak in frequency in July and at weekends. The consultation delay ranged between 1 and 30 days in two-thirds of the cases. The perpetrator was an intimate partner in 38.2% of cases, a stranger in 11.1% of cases, and a family member in 5.9% of cases. The weapon used was a blunt object in 82.8% of cases. Injuries were preferentially located in the upper limbs (52.6%) followed by the head and face (42.7%), consisting essentially of bruising and abrasions. The median duration of the total temporary disability (TTD) was 5 days (extremes: 0–60 days). The duration of TTD was statistically correlated to the type and the site of the most serious injuries. Moreover, there was a statistically significant correlation between the duration of TTD and the PPD prediction (p