Modeling the Experience of Domestic Violence in Strong Women: A Qualitative Study using Thematic Analysis Method

This study examines the lived experience of powerful women who are victims of domestic violence in Iranian society with a qualitative phenomenological approach. Data has been collected in 2021 through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 7 powerful women who were purposefully selected from Tehran. The findings show that domestic violence does not disappear for powerful women, but its types changes. Patterns and themes related to the questions were extracted through theme analysis. The main themes of the social contexts of domestic violence are role conflict, imbalance in the construction of power in the family, the social label of the experience of violence, and the lack of legal protection for the victim. The themes related to the consequences of experiencing domestic violence in powerful women include resilience, negative self-evaluation and depression. Also, the main themes of transpathy of the experience of domestic violence are denying the superiority of men, optimism and emphasizing on their managerial position as a woman. What emerges from the findings is that powerful women who are victims of domestic violence, are affected by hegemonic patriarchal structures, and also, they are victims of the continuation of the cycle of violence resulting from their complicity with their abusive husbands.