The perspective of the women who are exposed to domestic violence and staying women's shelter, to these shelters: İstanbul sample

Regardless of geographical boundaries, economic development and education level; domestic violence is a worlwide and unsolved social problem. In this study, the vision of the women who are exposed to domestic violence and staying in women's shelter, to these shelters is evaluated with an academic perspective. The research results are listed below. It has been revelaed that; domestic violence is continuing widely, women are exposed to all sort of violence not only from their husbands but the by others, too. Women feel alone when they expose to violence and the women with low-level socio-economic conditions are exposed to violence more than the others. And these situations create weakness for women to struggle for violence. As a result of research, it is revealed that most of the women see violence as unfair and they are not aware of their legal rights. Thereby, they generally can not benefit from these rights. Moreover, the related public institutions and organizations are not so successfull to fulfill their responsibilites in order to prevent violence against women. Women's shelters which serve for creating temporary sheltering oppurtunities for women and children who are exposed to violence, are important for struggling against violence. That is why, it important to increase the number of women's shelter, to improve physical conditions. The public officials should be more sensitive to the problems of women staying in these shelters. Another significant need is that; supporting services should be increased in order for empowerment of victims of violence. The revealing force causes of violence should be eliminated for a successfull anti-violence struggle programme. Moreover, development of social mentality and social gender equality should be ensured. Finally, in order to have a successfull struggle for anti-violence programmes; public institutions and organizations should have common and effective politics. Keywords: violence against women, women's shelters. social gender equality, struggle for anti-violence.