title: Violence against women: A series of autopsy studies from Istanbul, Turkey.
abstract: Death is the most severe consequence of violence against women. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of violence-related deaths among women and the general characteristics of fatal violence cases against women in Istanbul, Turkey. A total of 20,486 forensic autopsies performed between 2006 and 2010, in Istanbul, were retrospectively analyzed. Of these, 537 violence-related deaths among women were included in the study. The victims were investigated in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, exposed type of violence, and autopsy findings. Out of all female deaths (n = 4165), 12.9% were due to violence against women, which comprised 2.6% of all autopsies (n = 20,456) performed during the study period in Istanbul. The median age of the victims was 43 years, and a significant proportion of victims (49.7%) were between the ages of 21 and 40 years. The deaths occurred most commonly in private residences (51.2%, n = 275), whereas the street was the crime scene for 14.5% (n = 78) of cases. Firearm injuries (50.1%, n = 269) were the most common cause of death, followed by stab wounds (28.3%, n = 152) and strangulation (8.4%, n = 45). Among the identified perpetrators, 52.3% were victims' spouses or boyfriends. The perpetrators were female in 4.4% (n = 16) of cases. Istanbul is the most important and cosmopolitan city of Turkey, representing the country's cultural characteristics. Therefore, the data obtained in this study may be strong indicators of violence against women in Turkey.
authors.affiliation: The Council of Forensic Medicine, Bahcelievler, Istanbul 34196, Turkey. Electronic address: unalesra@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Esra Ozgun
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.affiliation: The Council of Forensic Medicine, Bahcelievler, Istanbul 34196, Turkey. Electronic address: sermetkoc@istanbul.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Sermet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koc
authors.affiliation: The Council of Forensic Medicine, Bahcelievler, Istanbul 34196, Turkey. Electronic address: volkanunal75@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Volkan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: akcanmd@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Akcan
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Program, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA. Electronic address: gjavan@alasu.edu.
authors.forename: Gulnaz T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Javan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014930:Women; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autopsy; Violence; Women