. The role of “safe houses” in empowering victims of domestic violence

Violence against women is an ancient and rather widespread phenomenon in all societies. More than the high rate of different sorts of physical, mental, sexual and economic violence against women, the crucial issues which demand women's support are the black figure of violence, the necessity of family member's support and violated women's treatment in order to prevent its repetition. Nowadays, regardless of the need or no need for social-based intervention, various attempts have been made to protect women at the risk of domestic violence or violated ones, by governmental organizations and NGOs. Designing "safe house" is a sample for protection. The fundamental role of safe houses in the protection of these women by presenting long and short- terms supports has not already been under the spotlight of scholars. Hence, the authors in this paper firstly have discussed the background and the features of safe houses in the countries such as Canada, USA, etc. In the second step, different responsible people in the governmental and non-governmental safe houses in the city of Tehran have been interviewed and their safety instructions are analyzed. The third step is to consider the supportive characteristics of these houses and their challenges such as the lack of physical space and the professional staff, low budget, etc. The findings emphasize the importance of safe houses in Iran, enhancing their situation by means of inclusive education, public awareness and all parts of the society's supports to present qualified programs in legal, psychological, medical, etc. aspects.