Domestic violence OK sometimes: 34 percent of Turkish men

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Women hold a protest against domestic violence in the southern city of Antalya in this file photo. An average of five to six women are killed daily in Turkey, activists say. DHA photo

A total of 34 percent of men find violence "occasionally necessary," while 28 percent said violence could be used to discipline women, according to a nationwide survey conducted among 3,500 men by the Happy Kids Association (Mutlu Çocuklar Derneği) and Kırıkkale University’s Application and Research Center for Women’s Problems.

The survey, which was intended to identify the perceptions of men and women regarding violence in Turkey, is the first of its kind conducted on men, not women, Dolunay Şenol, department chair for sociology at Kırıkkale University, told Anatolia news agency yesterday.

A total of 7,000 people participated in the “Nationwide Survey on Violence against Women,” in which men and women over the age of 18 were interviewed to identify their perceptions about violence against women. The survey was carried out in Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Erzurum, Trabzon and Malatya, and each city was represented by 500 men and women.

‘Good enough reason’

According to the survey, 34 percent of men said “violence is occasionally necessary” while 18 percent agreed with the statement “The man is the ruler of the house and is free to use violence when necessary.” Many men accept domestic violence when there is a “good enough reason,” it showed. According to some 30.9 percent of men, violence with a cause is acceptable, while 37.6 percent expressed that some principles such as honor, decency and discipline render violence necessary.

If women “provoke it,” then violence is acceptable for 23.4 percent of men. A minority of staunchly patriarchic 11.5 percent of men declared that they have the “right to use violence” and 11.8 percent found it absolutely necessary to punish women when they cross their husbands.

Şenol said both men and women must be educated to prepare for a harmonious marriage, not only women. “Individuals must go through training on communication within the household and domestic violence. The family comes for counseling and training only after experiencing a problem; however, it is very difficult to change the relationships after [such a problem].”

The survey also showed that cases of domestic violence are likely to lead to divorce, since of all the participants, including both men and women, only 32 percent found it unnecessary to get a divorce following cases of domestic violence.