Physical, mental and sexual abuse among the married women in south eastern Iran, 2009

Introduction: Family violence is an aggressive behavior happening among some couples. According to WHO reports, familial violence against women is a health priority and has many complications. This study investigated the physical, mental and sexual violence exposure among the married women in reproductive age in Zahedan, Iran. Methods: This cross sectional study carried out on 354 married women living in Zahedan city in 2009. The data was collected through interview and by using a valid and reliable questionnaire. At first, the subjects were categorized based on violence exposure level, and then the data were analyzed using descriptive statistic and chi square test. P-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The results showed that the exposure prevalence with physical, mental and sexual violence was 5.4%, 20.9% and 9.7%, respectively. The educational level of husband, number of children and age of marriage were related to all three types of violence (P<0.04) and ethnicity, educational level and husband's job were related to physical and mental violence (P<0.05). Additionally, mental and sexual violence were associate with monthly income of family (P<0.05). Conclusion: It seems that violence exposure among Zahedanian women is more than expected. That is probably due to low Socio-economic statues and illiteracy