Prevalence and risk factors for domestic violence against infertile women in a Turkish setting.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for domestic violence among women seeking infertility treatment at an IVF center.

STUDY DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 423 infertile women who referred to the IVF Center in the southwest of Turkey between 1 January and 31 July 2016. The women were interviewed without their male partners by using the questionnaire and Infertile Women's Exposure to Violence Determination Scale.

RESULTS: A total of 306 participants (72%) declared having experienced domestic violence. It was found that 30% of the women exposed to violence stated that they were subject to physical violence, 6% to sexual violence, 62% to emotional violence, and 19% to economic violence. It was determined that the total mean score obtained by the women exposed to violence from Infertile Women's Exposure to Violence Determination Scale was 120.04 ± 12.69 and when it was evaluated based on the total mean scores to be obtained from the scale, level of violence experienced by the women was found to be severe.

CONCLUSIONS: The rate of exposure to violence was determined to be high in women included in the study. The most common type of domestic violence is psychological violence.