A Qualitative Study of Domestic Violence and Women's Coping Strategies in Iran

This qualitative study presents women’s perceptions of domestic violence and their coping strategies based on self-narratives collected from a small sample in Iran. By limiting women’s access to life opportunities, domestic violence is a major obstacle to social, economic, and political equity and by extension to development. Violence against women goes beyond being a personal or a private issue. It is a social problem and a public issue. Yet, in the prevailing culture, domestic violence is considered a private matter. The study analyzes the context of domestic violence against the background of social and cultural norms. In-depth interviews conducted for this research indicate women’s awareness of the threat to their lives from domestic violence as well as the social context and prevailing values (degrading women in the society) that encourage more violence against them. Research findings are in line with observations in many other countries.