Married women's attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women in Turkey: An investigation of cultural and structural explanations

Using data from the 1998 and 2003 Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys, this study explores the factors that associated with married women's attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in Turkey. Guided by both the structural and cultural explanations, seven hypotheses are developed and tested. Results from a series of binary logistic regression analyses demonstrate that both socio-structural and cultural factors are the robust predictors of married women's attitudes toward IPV in Turkey. More specifically, the results show that household wealth, educational attainment, literacy status, access to the media, and egalitarian decision-making power are significantly and negatively associated with approval attitudes toward IPV against women. As anticipated, traditional cultural norms and practices such as bride price and gender traditionalism are significantly and positively associated with approval attitudes toward IPV against women. These results are interpreted and discussed in the socio-structural and cultural contexts of Turkey.