Do Iranian and Indian Violence Victims Experience the Same Type of Domestic Violence ?

The present study seeks to report the different types of violence Iranian and Indian violence victims have experienced during their life. For this purpose, 400 Iranian and Indian women were randomly selected from Iran and India. Domestic violence questionnaire was implemented to find out the type of violence experienced by the selected participants. After data collection, Contingency coefficient analysis was used to find out the relationship between country and selected parameters. Results indicated that most of the violence reported was sexual violence followed by physical abuse, however, physical abuse and emotional abuse was found to be more in Iranian victims and verbaland financial violence was found to be more among Indian victims. Majority of the respondents were sufferers of violence more than 3 years. Regarding the highest amount of violence, partner involvement was reported to be the first, which was more in Ira.


INTRODUCTION
Domestic violence can take many forms and variation and can happen once in a while or all at the same time.Domestic violence can be psychological abuse, Social Abuse, Financial Abuse, Physical Assault or Sexual Assault.Violence can be criminal and includes physical assault or injury (hitting.beating, shoving, etc.), sexual abuse (forced sexual activity) or stalking.
Domestic violence is one of the crimes against women which are linked to their disadvantageous position in the society.Domestic violence refers to violence against women especially in matrimonial homes.Background characteristics such as education, age, marital duration, place of residence, caste, religion, sex of the head of the household, standard of living, work status of women, exposure to mass media and the autonomy of women with respect to decision making, freedom of movement and access to money are linked to domestic violence.An autonomy index is computed to understand the relationship of women's autonomy with domestic violence.Bivariate analysis is used to examine the variation of domestic violence by background characteristics.Logistic regression is carried out to predict the domestic violence with the selected independent variables.The analysis shows that the women belonging to low socio-economic status are more likely to agree with each of the different reasons justifying wife-beating.Again domestic violence is more among lower autonomy and women belonging to low socio-economic status.Domestic violence also called intimate partner abuse, intimate partner violence, and domestic abusetakes many forms.Maltreatment that takes place in the context of any romantic relationship is abuse as described by the above specific terms.It therefore involves men, women, or teen girls and boys, whether in a heterosexual or homosexual relationship.Intimate partner violence may take the form of emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, or economic abuse and is defined as one person in an intimate relationship using any means to control the other.Types of domestic abuse include physical, verbal (also called emotional, mental, or psychological abuse), and sexual, economic/financial, and spiritual abuse.Stalking and cyber stalking are also forms of intimate partner abuse.In this research we speak about most important parts of violence namely, Physical, Social, Psychological, Sexual and Financial violence.
In this research we speak about most important parts of violence namely, Physical, Social, Psychological, Sexual and Financial violence.
Physical: Physical abuse against women can be in different forms.This includes pushing, shoving, hitting, punching, kicking, choking, and assault with a weapon, tying down or restraining, leaving the person in a dangerous place, and refusing to help when the person is sick or injured.

Social:
In social violence man plays a very dominant role in the social structure; he is, as of right, the head of the family, and is seen and regarded in certain circumstances by the wife (or wives) as the lord and master whose decision is always final.Even in the exceptionally few matrilineal societies, authority relations are still patriarchal, although patterns of decadency and inheritance might be governed by the Principles of materiality.
In Social control view some parents use violence against their children because they have no fear of being hit back.Social international explanation approach the etiology of child abuse in terms of the interplay between individual family and social factors in relation to both past and present events.The condition in which children have been raised may help to reveal why some adults are predisposed to abusive behavior, given certain setting conditions.Social learning theory lays emphasis on the learned nature of parenting and the fact that many parents have lack of knowledge and skill to carry out the highly complex task of child-rearing.
Sexual: Sexual abuse is common in abusive relationships.The National Coalition against Domestic Violence reports that between one-third and one-half of all battered women are raped by their partners at least once during their relationship.Any situation in which force is used to obtain participation in unwanted, unsafe, or degrading sexual activity constitutes sexual abuse.Forced sex, even by a spouse or intimate partner with whom consensual sex has occurred, is an act of aggression and violence.Furthermore, women whose partners abuse them physically and sexually are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed.Categories of sexual abuse include:  Use of physical force to compel a person to engage in a sexual act against his or her will, whether or not the act is completed  Attempted or completed sex act involving a person who is unable to understand the nature or condition of the act, unable to decline participation, or unable to communicate unwillingness to engage in the sexual act, e.g., because of underage immaturity, illness, disability, or the influence of alcohol or other drugs, or because of intimidation or pressure  Abuse sexual contact Emotional: Emotional abuse (also called psychological abuse or mental abuse) can include humiliating the victim privately or publicly, controlling what the victim can and cannot do, withholding information from the victim, deliberately doing something to make the victim feel diminished or embarrassed, isolating the victim from friends and family, implicitly blackmailing the victim by harming others when the victim expresses independence or happiness, or denying the victim access to money or other basic resources and necessities.

LITERATURE REVIEW
In a study of 190 Muslims seeking mental health counseling in Northern Virginia, 41% experienced domestic violence in the form of verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.Victims were 71% adult females, 12% adult males, and 16% children.60% of all clients experienced verbal or psychological abuse in their lifetime, 50% physical abuse, 14% sexual abuse, and 3% reported having a relative killed.(Abugideiri, 2007).
Prevalence: A survey of 63 Muslim leaders showed that 10% of Muslims experienced physical abuse in their homes.(Alkhateeb, 1999).
Prevalence: A study of 23 Muslim married female immigrants from Bangladesh residing in Houston, Texas revealed a 10% prevalence rate of spousal abuse.(Rianon and Shelton, 2003).
Attitudes: A study of 162 women and 40 men was conducted in 202 Arab-American homes (98% of whom were Muslim).Interviewees approved of a man slapping his wife under the following conditions: 34% of women and 33% of men if she insults him when they are at home alone, 17% of women and 43% of men if she insults him in public and 59% of both women and men if she hits him first in an argument.(Kulwicki and Miller, 1999).
Women's shelter residents: A study of 57 closedcase files from an American Muslim women's shelter revealed that 37% had experienced multiple types of abuse, 23% experienced physical abuse, and 12% experienced emotional abuse.(Abdullah, 2007).

International:
Afghan attitudes: In a study of 121 Afghan women and men, over 30% felt increasingly concerned about family violence.(Abirafeh, 2007).
Bengali women: A study of 2677 Bengali women aged 13-40 revealed that three out of four (75.6%) experienced violence from their husbands.(Silverman et al., 2007).
Pakistani women: A study of 1324 pregnant Pakistani women found that 51% had experienced verbal, physical or sexual abuse in the six months prior to and/or during their pregnancies.(Karmaliani et al., 2008).
Palestinian women: In a study of 395 married women and men living in refugee camps, the majority of men (60.1%) and women (61.8%) believed that wife beating is justified in most situations.(Khawaja and Tewtel-Salem, 2008).

Sudanese patients:
A study of 146 Sudanese women at an outpatient clinic found that 45.8% had been victims of domestic violence.(Ahmed, 2007).
Turkish women: In a study of 506 Turkish women attending health centers, 58% experienced domestic violence (primarily psychological and physical) frequently and continuously (Alper et al., 2005) © Peaceful F In 2005, the World Health Organization conducted the first major global comparison of domestic violence, collecting data from 24,000 women in ten countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru, Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, and the United Republic of Tanzania).Results showed that, in some countries, more than 70% of women experienced abuse.Prior to the 2005 study, a 1999 report from the Center for Health and Gender Equity found the following rates of adult women being physically assaulted by partners: Ethiopia, 45%; Nigeria, 31%; South Africa, 29%; Bangladesh, 47%; India, 40%; New Zealand, 35%; Papua New Guinea, 67%; Netherlands, 21%; Turkey, 58%; United Kingdom, 30%; Barbados, 30%; Mexico, 27%; Egypt, 34%; and Canada, 29% .Almost 50% of women in the England and Wales.

Purpose of the study:
This study aims to look into the attitudes and experiences of domestic violence among women in Mysore, India and Esfahan, Iran.The present research is an attempt to study this unpleasant phenomena and its relationship with certain demographic characteristics to pave the way for implementing preventive measures, early recognition and appropriate management strategies to ensure the safety of women and children in the family.
 It is important to explore and identify attitudes and experiences of domestic violence in the lives of couples.This may aid in the early exposure and prevention of future domestic violence in society  Furthermore, this study aims at providing future research in the area a more defined direction, and a help guide to women, thus preventing violence against women and aiding policy makers in devising public policies related to the rights of women  It is very important for government agencies to be aware of the prevalence of intimate partner violence among married couples in India and Iran as well and assign them to allocate resources for further research in the field. Such research, in turn would be very useful to the development and implementation of community level awareness and intervention programs.

Research question and hypothesis:
Regarding the objectives of the study, the following research question was raised: Q: Is there any significant difference in the type of domestic violence experienced by Iranian and Indian victims?
H01: There is no significant difference in the type of domestic violence experienced by Iranian and Indian victims.

METHODOLOGY
Participants: A total of 400 respondents included in this study, where 200 each from Iran and India.The sample from Iran was selected at the City of Esfahan and sample from India was drawn from Mysore.Stratified Random sampling method was adapted to arrive at the number of respondents for the study.In both cities, the cases which have been referred to family courts were considered for the selection of sample.
Tool employed: A self-structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was employed in the present study.The self-structured format consisted electing information regarding various demographic parameters, type of violence experienced, duration, perception regarding the act of violence etc.
Procedure: All participants were given an orientation before the questionnaire was handed out to the respective respondents.Orientation included a brief description of the nature, scope, purpose and importance of the study, role of the participants, their choice whether to participate or not, issues related to participant confidentiality and the resources to contact in any case where the participants felt the need to talk to someone about their thoughts or feelings as a results of answering question in the survey.They were also informed about the importance of this study.Once completed, the questionnaires were collected and placed in envelops that were sealed to preserve confidentiality.All the questionnaires were reviewed to make sure all information was correctly completed Once the data was collected, they were coded and fed to computer using SPSS for Windows (version 16.0).Contingency coefficient analysis was employed to see the association between countries and selected parameters for the study.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In order to see whether there is any significant difference in the type of domestic violence experienced by Iranian and Indian victims, the collected data were analyzed as the results were shown in Table 1 and Fig. 1.
On the whole we find that 40.3% of the violence reported is sexual, followed by 34.3% of physical, 13.0% financial and 8.0% emotional and the remaining 4.5% of the violence was verbal.Country-wise comparison revealed that victims in Iran suffered more of physical and emotional violence; whereas victims in India suffered more of sexual, financial and verbal violence.Statistically a significant association(CC = 0.176; P = 0.013) was observed between country and type of violence.
Table 1 presents frequency and percent responses on various issues on domestic violence in Iran and India and results of contingency coefficient analysis.

Type of violence:
On the whole it was found that 40.3% of the respondents suffered sexual abuse, 34.3% of them experienced physical violence, 13.0% of them experienced financial violence, and 8.0% of them reported emotional violence and remaining 4.5%  experienced verbal abuse.However, this pattern of violence was found to be significantly different for Iranian and Indian respondents, physical abuse and emotional abuse was found to be more in Iranian victims and verbal and financial violence was found to be more among Indian victims which was found to be statistically significant (CC = 0.176; P = 0.013).
Duration of suffering: 56.5% of the victims reported that thy were experiencing the violence more than 3 years, 23.3% of them indicated between 1-3 years and remaining 20.3% of them indicated less than 1 year.Further, this type of pattern of response was found to be similar for both Iranian and Indian domestic violence victims (CC = 0.107; P = 0.100).
It was the partner who involved most of the times (96.3%),followed by 2.8% of Person involved, the expartners and 1.0% of others.However, in Iran partner's involvement was found to be significantly higher than others compared to Indian scenario.Perception regarding violence: Majority of the respondents indicated that it was wrong from partner side to commit such violence, 22.3% of them indicated as crime, 9.0% of them were not sure about it, and remaining 7.5% indicated that the violence was just something.Country-wise comparison indicated that Indian victims considered the violence more as a crime, whereas Iranian respondents indicated more of wrong, and were not sure about it which was found to be significant (CC = 0.000).

Perception as DV:
On the whole, 66.0% of the total sample indicated clearly as a domestic violence, of which further more Indian sample perceived it more as domestic violence (75.0%) compared to their Iranian counterparts (57.0%), which was found to be statistically significant (CC = 0.187; P = 0.000).

CONCLUSION
Regarding the main findings of the study, we can mention the followings:  Most of the violence reported was sexual violence followed by physical abuse, however, physical abuse and emotional abuse was found to be more in Iranian victims and verbal and financial violence was found to be more among Indian victims  Majority of the respondents were sufferers of violence more than 3 years  Partner involvement was maximum in all types of violence; much more involvement was in Iran  Iranian respondents were softer towards domestic violence, while Indian respondents were more serious about violence act and its perception Two-thirds of women in Iran have suffered from domestic violence at least once in their lives (DiBranco, 2009).In Afghanistan, 87 percent of women report being victims of domestic violence (DiBranco, 2009).In Gherghizestan, groups of men kidnap young girls, some only twelve years old, and take them to the homes of men whom they are to wed.The abductor's family then exerts pressure on the girl and her family to "consent" to the marriage.Many times, the abducted girl is immediately raped so that she will feel dirtied and unable to return to her family (Reconciled to Violence, 2006).Examining Domestic Violence as a State Crime 12 Global Nonkilling Working Papers #2 The U.S. Department of Justice has estimated that between one quarter and one third of women will be the victims of domestic violence The U.S. Department of Justice has estimated that between one quarter and one third of women will be the victims of domestic violence.Women of color are particularly at risk for abuse, with studies showing African American women endure 35% more abuse than Caucasian women.These women face additional barriers in getting help, including racially discriminatory systems.Native American women experience the highest rates of violence of any group in the U.S, according to data from the Department of Justice.Native women are the victims of violence crime three and a half times more often than the national, average (Bungalia, 2001).The researchers who authored the 2005 WHO report found that abuse had lasting effects.Victims were twice as likely as non-victims to suffer poor health, including injuries, pain, dizziness, mental health problems, and miscarriages (Murray, 2008).An estimated 37% of women seeking attention at emergency rooms in the U.S had been injured by an intimate partner, according to a 2000 study (Murray, 2008).Domestic violence is often lethal.An estimated 1,400 women in the U.S. are killed from domestic violence annually, a shocking number.The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) considers domestic violence to be among the most dangerous forms of gender-based violence, and in the U.S., more women are injured from domestic violence than from car accidents, rapes, and muggings combined (Murray, 2008).
In other countries, death rates from domestic violence are far higher.For instance, approximately 14,000 women die each year from abusive relationships in Russia (Murray, 2008).South Africa is said to have the highest global rates of domestic and sexual violence against women, which contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS (Onyejekwe, 2004).In India, an estimated 5,000 women are killed each year from honor killings alone (Murray, 2008).A young girl may be murdered by her own family members, typically a father or brother, if she is perceived to have dishonored the family through adultery or even flirting.(Murray, 2008).The UN Commission on Human Rights has called honor killings "one of history's oldest genderbased crimes."It is estimated that two-thirds of all murders in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1999 were honor killings (Murray, 2008).In Jordan, an Laura L. Finley Global No killing Working Papers #2 13 The non-governmental organization Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) found a reported 286 women murdered in honor killings in Punjab province alone in 1998 estimated 25 women each year are killed in honor killings, one of the highest per capita rates in the world (Soussi, 2005).
As this study aims to look at the attitudes and experiences of domestic violence among women in Mysore, India and Esfahan, Iran.The feminist theory will be helpful to understand the influence of the patriarchal culture informing these attitudes and experiences.This study will test how patriarchal values influence violent experiences, both perpetration and victimization, in relationships among the participants.Specifically, feminist theory will help us understand the relationship between culture specific perceptions and attitudes towards wife beating and the experience of victimization among participants.
The present research is an attempt to study this unpleasant phenomena and its relationship with certain demographic characteristics to pave the way for implementing preventive measures, early recognition and appropriate management strategies to ensure the safety of women and children in the family.
 Violence against women has become a widely recognized human rights, health, and development issue. It is important to explore and identify attitudes and experiences of domestic violence in the lives of couples.This may aid in the early exposure and prevention of future domestic violence in the society. Furthermore, this study aims at giving future research in the area a more defined direction, and a help guide to women, thus preventing violence against women and aiding policy makers in devising public policies related to the rights of women. It is very important for government agencies to be aware of the prevalence of intimate partner violence among married couples in India and Iran for them to allocate resources for further research in the field. Such research would in turn be very useful for the development and implementation of community level awareness and intervention programmes.
The main purpose of research about violence against women is social factors.Violence against women is a social factor and each social factor needs to search, recognition and solving problems.

Fig. 1 :
Fig. 1: Percentage responses for type of violence experienced by Iranian and Indian domestic violence victims

Table 1 :
Frequency and percentage responses for type of violenc experienced by Iranian and Indian domestic violence victims and results of contingency co-efficient test