Barriers to Leaving a Relationship From the Perspective of Married Abused Iranian Women: Secondary Analysis of the Interviews With Abused Women

Abstract

Violence has a heavy impact on the physical and mental health of women in developed and developing countries; however, most of the violence victims would suffer in silence and never leave their relationship. The aim of the present study was to identify the barriers to leaving a relationship from the perspective of married abused Iranian women. The present study was a secondary analysis of the interviews conducted in a primary study. The primary study that was conducted using the grounded theory approach has assessed the coping process with domestic violence in 24 married abused Iranian women. These women were selected from local parks, health centers, and universities of Tehran city using a purposive sampling method. Qualitative secondary analysis of the interviews was conducted, in accordance with the goal of this study, using content analysis. Four categories emerged through the analysis of the data including “fear,” “lack of resources,” “beliefs and attitudes,” and “dependence” and the common theme between these categories was “ deterrents to leaving an abusive relationship.” Results indicated that contextual factors such as fear, lack of resources, attitudes and beliefs, and dependence were the reason for not leaving a relationship. Interventions for enriching women’s resources (improving the condition of education and employment, and improvement of the formal and informal support systems), education about domestic violence and its management methods, and modification of the existing attitudes and beliefs in this regard could keep abused women from experiencing more violence.