Retrospective evaluation of domestic violence cases at Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Department of Forensic Medicine between 2016-2020

Aim: Domestic violence is an important public health problem and is more traumatic and repetitive than violence by other people. Individuals who are exposed to or witness to violence experience permanent damage throughout their lives. In order to draw attention to these harms, domestic violence cases referred to our polyclinic were evaluated. Materials and Methods: 217 domestic violence cases referred to our polyclinic to prepare a forensic report between 01.01.2016-31.12.2020 were evaluated retrospectively; sociodemographic characteristics and the nature of the event and injury were examined. Results: 10.1% of the cases who applied to our outpatient clinic within a five-year period were domestic violence cases, 62.2% of these cases were women, the mean age was 35.6±14.8, and the perpetrators of violence were spouses or partners with 56.7%. It was found that blunt trauma was the most common form of violence with 89.4%. Conclusion: A healthy society consists of healthy individuals. The basis of this comes from the family. Providing that individuals who have lost their health due to violence have access to necessary medical assistance and official measures is an important point in preventing recurrence of violence and protecting the life of the victim. The victims of domestic violence are mostly women. In order to prevent this situation, gender equality should be ensured, essential education should be provided, people should be informed about their rights and effective implementation of current measures should be ensured. In addition, there is a need for more domestic violence studies across Turkey.