Domestic Violence against women: Review of theories, prevalence and its effective factors

Background and aimViolence against women is a human rights issue, but it is also a health issue and its physical, mental and social consequences can put women, family and society’s health in danger. This article aims to review domestic violence phenomenon with a psychological and social approach and estimates its prevalence.Materials and methodsThis study is based on literature review and use of databases: Pub med, Google Scholar, Proquest, Elsevier and Springe for Latin articles and Iran Medex, Magiran databases and Scientific Information Database (SID) for Persian articles, accompanied by a library study on violence against women.FindingsThe results show different levels of domestic violence in different parts of the world. But in various studies showed the prevalence is 10-60 percent and 1-37 percent in pregnancy period. In 28 provinces of Iran, as the National Study on Violence against Women shows, the prevalence is 66 percent and various researches have shown that it is high in some cities of Iran, even in the pregnancy period. The effective factors on the domestic violence are such as: personal and familial characteristics, social environment and social class, men’s economical power, supporting institutions, media’s role and supportive laws.ConclusionIn general, women cannot reach their proper statues and overcome violence unless fundamental changes in cultural, social, economical and political structures of all parts of the world are considered.