The evaluation of the cases of intimate partner violence

In this study, it was aimed to identify the causes and risk factors of intimate partner violence cases who applied to the emergency service and forensic medicine outpatient clinic of Fırat University Hospital and to make recommendations on preventive measures. Cases of intimate partner violence who applied to the emergency service and forensic medicine outpatient clinic of Fırat University Hospital in the province of Elazığ between February 2019 and June 2020 were investigated prospectively in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, degree of affinity, type of relationship, type of violence exposed, tools used during attacks, body parts attacked, etc. No sampling method was chosen for the study and the cases who applied with the complaint of partner violence within the specified time period were included in the study. In total, 311 partners were included in this study. Accordingly, 277 (89.1%) of the victims of violence are women while 34 (10.9%) of them are men. The mean age of the victims was found to be 33.1±9.8 years (min.= 15, max.= 66). The average age of perpetrators of violence has been found to be 35,9±10,6 years (min.=18, max.=72). While 282 (90.7%) of those who use violence are the spouses of the person they inflicted, 271 (87.1%) of them are coupled with civil marriage. 164 (57.3%) of those who were married and exposed to violence got married by agreement (by flirting). Physical violence (98.4%) is the most common type of violence among partners observed followed by verbal (86.8%), emotional (43.7%), economic (37.3%), and sexual (16.4%) violence respectively. 26 (8.4%) of the partners included in the study were exposed to physical violence for the first time. The cases of first physical violence took place in the 15th month of the relationship on average. Physical violence between partners took place 34.6 times a year on average. The first physical violence occurred most frequently when the partners were married (86.8%). When the reasons for violence between partners are evaluated, it is seen that the most common causes are jealousy (38.6%) and economic reasons (37.6%) while sexual reasons were the least observed reasons. The most attacked body part is the face (64%), while the least attacked is the anterior and posterior abdominal wall (7.7%). 204 of the victims (65.6%) accept it when they are suffered from partner violence. Again, 192 of the victims (61.7%) applied for law enforcement assistance. It has been found that as the education level of the victim decreases, there is violence motivated by economic reasons, and as it increases, the violence due to jealousy and the family of the parties takes place together with the tendency to apply for law enforcement assistance. It was found that women who are not employed and have a monthly income below the legal minimum wage were exposed to economic violence with higher rates. It was observed that as the monthly income level of the partner who uses violence increases, he or she used more verbal and emotional violence. As a result, when the causes of violence among partners are evaluated, pre-marital training programs, family counseling, and relationship therapy to control the feeling of "jealousy" which is the most frequent cause of violence would contribute to the prevention of violence caused by jealousy. We are of the opinion that violence and the acceptance of violence can be reduced significantly by raising the education level of women that constitute the majority of victims of partner violence, by increasing their awareness, and by ensuring their increased involvement in working life and having sufficient income.