Coping With Intimate Partner Violence: The Effect Of Women’s Resources On Their Response To Violence In Turkey

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the interaction between the personal and social resources of women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and their responses to two specific types of violence, namely; physical and sexual violence. The study utilizes survey data from the "2014 Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey Survey", a follow-up to the 2008 nationwide survey on violence against women, which includes a wide range of socio-demographic background questions as well as questions on IPV and various types of violence against women and girls. This quantitative research represents one of the rare studies focusing on women's individual and institutional responses to IPV and it is also based on findings from the most recent field study on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey. The sample design of the research is a multi-staged stratified cluster sampling and 11,247 households completed the survey from 12 statistical regions, urban and rural areas of Turkey. During the field visits, 13,310 women were identified as eligible for interviews, and 8,960 women were approached for face-to-face interviews. The response rate for the women interviews was recorded at 83.3 percent. Multinomial logit models were employed to elucidate the relationship between the responses of women who had been subjected to violence and their individual resources. The findings of the study reveal that individual resources such as age, higher education, urban residence, and being in regular employment with social security significantly increase the likelihood that women will engage in at least one institutional or non-institutional response to IPV.