Domestic violence on pregnant women in Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
Domestic violence is accepted worldwide as an important health problem. Besides diagnosis and treatment process, there are difficulties when considering of medico-legal evaluation of pregnant women subjected to domestic violence. As a signatory of the ''Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)'' Turkey has certain commitments regarding domestic violence and made regulations on national law. The purpose of the present study is to demonstrate the prevalence of domestic violence during pregnancy among the women who applied to obstetrics clinics and evaluating of the participants' knowledge level about the legal legislation concerning domestic violence.


RESULTS
Pregnant women attending for antenatal care to department of Gynecology and Obstetrics were interviewed using an anonymous and confidential questionnaire. The questionnaire used was a version of Abuse Assessment Screen with guidance of references. 28 (13.4%) women stated that they had been subjected to violence before pregnancy. Only 10 (4.67%) women had stated experience of violence during pregnancy. 148 (69.2%) of them had stated that they had no knowledge about any legislation concerning domestic violence in our country.


CONCLUSIONS
We believe that society awareness should be increased and the health workers should be informed about their ethical and legal responsibilities concerning domestic violence during pregnancy. The knowledge and sensitivity of health care personnel in Prenatal Clinics and Family Planning Services should be increased and examination protocols should be provided about domestic violence against pregnant women.
Ergönen
Akça Toprak
AT
Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Forensic Medicine Department, 35340 Inciralti, Izmir, Turkey. toprak.ergonen@deu.edu.tr
Ozdemir
M Hakan
MH
Can
Ismail Ozgür
IO
Sönmez
Ersel
E
Salaçin
Serpil
S
Berberoğlu
Evrim
E
Demir
Namik
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey