Prevalence of Domestic Violence against Women and Its Visibility in Southeast Iran

We aimed to estimate the prevalence of domestic violence against women at Reproductive Age (WARA) and its visibility in southeast of Iran.

Adopting a modified time-location sampling, we recruited 933 WARA in the city of Kerman, Iran from Aug to Dec 2019. Domestic violence (DV) was divided into three main categories: Physical, psychological, and sexual. Data were obtained by direct and Network Scale-Up (NSU) methods through self–administered questionnaires. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) was used to determine the association between socio-economic variables and the violence experience. Visibility was defined as the ratio of NSU over direct estimates.

Using the direct method, the annual prevalence of psychological violence was estimated at 60.9%. Corresponding figures for physical and sexual violence were 34.7% and 37.7%, respectively. NSU estimates were about one-third of the direct estimates. Divorced and widowed, self-employed, and less educated women were more likely to experience DV.

While the average DV was as high as 44%, its visibility was as low as 33%. Nearly two-thirds of domestic violence against women remains undisclosed. This indicates a high level of stigma perceived around this type of violence.