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Factors affecting domestic violence against women in Iran: a scoping review

BMC Women's Health volume 25, Article number: 231 (2025) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Domestic violence (DV) is the most common form of violence against women with the most social, psychological and economic consequences. Various factors affect DV against women. Several studies were conducted in Iran, each of which focused on a part or level of factors affecting DV. Therefore, this scoping review was conducted to determine the factors affecting violence against women in Iran.

Methods

In this scoping review study, databases Magiran, IranDoc, Islamic World Science Citation Database (ISC), Scientific Information Database (SID) were used to collect studies published in Persian and databases PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science from the beginning to June 2024 were searched. Google Scholar search engine was used to find relevant sources and complete the search coverage. The process of searching and selecting studies was drawn using PRISMA Diagram. To analyze the data, according to the evidence, the main factors and sub-factors were extracted by two authors independently. Then the data was sifted and sorted.

Results

Out of 491 identified studies, 81 were included in this study; the sample size of these studies was 42,239. Based on the obtained results, 6 main factors and 21 sub-factors affecting DV against women are: individual factors (age, education, marriage, and children), social factors (addiction, interference of others, history of violence, divorce, family structure, marital relationship, social class, and social capital), psychological factors, pregnancy factors, economic factors (income, employment, residence status, economic class, and economic status) and cultural factors (patriarchy, tradition, cultural development, and ethnicity).

Conclusion

The results of our study showed that several factors are effective on domestic violence against women, so policy makers and health system managers should look for solutions to reduce this health and social problem. Factors such as the expansion of counseling and treatment centers in comprehensive health service centers, life skills training, interventions appropriate to cultures and social norms, and the implementation of campaigns to increase awareness of DV are particularly important in reducing this phenomenon in society.

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Introduction

Domestic violence against women is recognized globally as one of the most common human rights violations. The declaration on the prohibition of violence against women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1993. In this declaration, violence against women is defined as follows:"any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life". This violence may be inflicted by individuals of the same sex, ordinary individuals, family members, and governments [1]. Domestic Violence (DV) against women is a widespread phenomenon in every culture around the world, regardless of geography, level of economic development, or level of education [2].

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report published in 2021, worldwide 1 in 3 women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner during their lifetime. According to the same report, the point estimate of lifetime sexual partner violence with a 95% confidence interval in Iran (CI = 16–52) was 31% [3]. Another study found that worldwide, approximately one-third (27%) of women aged 15–49 who have been in a relationship report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner [4]. Most violence is committed by a sexual partner [4, 5]. Although violence against women is a global problem, it has regional and cultural patterns [6].

Various studies reported different causes of DV. A study in Peru found that heavy drinking by the woman’s partner, having witnessed parental DV, having experienced physical punishment during childhood, employment, low educational, low socioeconomic status, and living in an urban residence increases the likelihood of DV [7]. According to a study in Turkey, the most important risk factors for DV were: age, education, employment status, social insurance, immigration status, place of residence, marital age, year of marriage of women, employment status of husband, and whether the husband has another wife [8]. A study in the United States found that low levels of formal education, past experiences of violence, residential instability, the presence of children, experiences of a traumatic event and panic attacks, and barriers to accessing health care increased intimate partner violence among women [9]. Another study found that the majority of abused women stated that the violence occurred because of their partner's sudden anger [10]. According to a systematic review study in Ethiopia, DV against women was significantly associated with alcohol consumption, history of family violence, occupation, religion, educational status, place of residence and decision-making power [11].

Victims of DV can suffer from psychological stress and short-term physical injuries to long-term debilitating and even fatal injuries. Nonfatal physical injuries may include contusions, lacerations, hematomas, fractures, broken teeth, and ligamentous or facial trauma [12]. Studies have shown that women prefer to remain silent about DV [10].

Violence against women is preventable. The health sector plays an important role in providing comprehensive health care to women under violence, and as an entry point to refer women to other support services they may need [4]. The importance of culture and its influence on the structure of male–female relationships has been well established. Examining the role that cultural beliefs play in DV has been supported in studies in an effort to gain a greater understanding of women's cultural perceptions of DV and the degree to which their responses to DV are framed within cultural contexts [13].

In order to effectively deal with the social problem of violence against women in the family, the first step is to identify the factors that shape it and answer the question of which factors expose women to DV. Because these factors cause irreparable mental, physical and family damage to women. During the last three decades, many studies were conducted in Iran on DV against women, most of these studies were cross-sectional and conducted in different provinces. These studies have examined various aspects and factors. A comprehensive study has not been conducted on the risk factors affecting violence against women in Iran. Therefore, this study was planned to fill the research gap in this field. Therefore, this scoping review was conducted to determine the factors affecting violence against women in Iran.

Methods

This scoping review was conducted with the aim of identifying and analyzing studies that have addressed the factors affecting DV against women in Iran. A scoping review and a systematic review are both methods for synthesizing existing scientific literature, but they differ in purpose and approach. A systematic review is conducted to answer a specific research question using rigorous, predefined methods to search for, select, appraise, and analyze relevant studies. In contrast, a scoping review aims to provide a broader overview of a research area by identifying key concepts, types of evidence, and gaps in the literature, often without assessing the quality of included studies. In summary, while systematic reviews focus on evaluating effectiveness, scoping reviews are primarily used for mapping the scope and diversity of research in a given field [14, 15].

Data sources and search strategy

In order to search and find studies that have investigated the factors affecting violence against women in Iran, the keywords"domestic violence","family violence","intimate partner violence","spouses violence","physical violence","emotions violence","psychological violence","sex violence","harassment","intimidation","sexual assault", and"intimate partner violence", were considered as the main keywords. To collect studies published in Persian, databases (Magiran, IranDoc, Islamic World Science Citation Database (ISC), Scientific Information Database (SID)) and to collect studies published in English, databases (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science) from the beginning to June 2024 were searched. A special and appropriate search strategy was used for each database. Google Scholar search engine was used to find relevant sources and complete the search coverage. Also, the reference list of searched articles was used to find related articles.

Study selection

First, the studies obtained from electronic search and manual search were organized using EndNote software, then the screening and selection of studies was done in two stages based on the entry and exit criteria. In the first stage, after removing duplicate articles, the title and abstract of the articles were checked, and in the second stage, the full text of the selected articles was collected and analyzed. The review of the title, abstract and full text of the articles was done by two researchers separately. Selected studies were re-evaluated by a third researcher. Disagreements or uncertainties were resolved by discussion in the research team. The process of searching and selecting studies was drawn using the PRISMA Diagram.

The inclusion criteria are:

  1. 1.

    Observational studies.

  2. 2.

    The setting of conducting study in Iran or one of the provinces or cities of Iran.

  3. 3.

    Studies that have addressed at least one of the factors.

The exclusion criteria are:

  1. 1.

    Interventional, review and qualitative studies.

  2. 2.

    Studies that have been published in a language other than English and Persian.

Data extraction

For data extraction, a special form was designed in Excel 2016 and the required information including general information (title, year of publication, journal, country, and first author) and specific information (purpose, type of study, findings) were extracted. Findings were summarized for each study, and the summaries were discussed by the research team as necessary to reach overall conclusions.

Data analysis

To analyze the data, according to the evidence, the main factors and sub-factors were extracted by two authors independently. Then, the data was sorted by sifting and sorting according to the main factors and sub-factors.

Results

Through the search of databases according to the specific search strategy of each database, 591 studies were identified in the first stage, then by checking the sources of these studies and manual search, 69 studies were added to this number, finally 660 studies were identified. After removing duplicate titles (157 studies), 503 studies were subjected to primary screening. After reading the title and abstract, 286 studies were excluded because they did not fit the purpose of the study. Therefore, the full text of 217 studies was selected and analyzed. Out of 217 screened studies, 122 studies met the eligibility criteria for the present study, of which 81 were included and analyzed (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

PRISMA flow diagram for identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion of the studies

Full size image

Table 1 shows the characteristics of 81 studies included in this scoping review. Among the 81 articles included, 25 articles have been published in English and 56 articles in Persian. Also, the study type of these articles is: 3 case–control studies, 1 descriptive-correlation study, 1 population-based survey study, and 76 cross-sectional studies were conducted. These articles were published between 2002 and 2024.

Table 1 Characteristics of studies included in this scoping review
Full size table

After reviewing the Characteristics of studies included in this scoping review, the results of these studies have been categorized into 6 main factors and 21 sub-factors (Table 2).

Table 2 Main factors, sub-factors, and factors affecting domestic violence against women in Iran
Full size table

Discussion

This study was conducted with the aim of determining the factors affecting DV against women in Iran. According to the results obtained from 81 studies, 6 main factors and 21 sub-factors affecting DV against women are: individual factors (age, education, marriage, and children), social factors (addiction, interference of others, history of violence, divorce, family structure, marital relationship, social class, and social capital), psychological factors, pregnancy factors, economic factors (income, employment, residence status, economic class, and economic status) and cultural factors (patriarchy, tradition, cultural development, and ethnicity). A scoping review study by Kisa et al. examined the prevalence, consequences, and risk factors of DV against women by their husbands or male partners in North African and Middle Eastern countries. This study found that younger women, women with lower education, longer duration of marriage, and lower income level have a higher risk of exposure to DV in this region. According to the findings of the same study, anxiety, depression/insomnia and physical injury were the most common health problems reported by victims in the region. The highest proportion of women not responding to violence was reported in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey [97].

The results of this study showed that the prevalence of DV in general and the prevalence of all types of DV (physical, mental, psychological, emotional, verbal, sexual, financial, and social) have been reported differently in different studies This difference can be mainly a result of diverse methodology of studies, different definitions of violence, target population of studies, measurement and data collection tools, and diversity in cities where studies were conducted. The results of our study showed that the prevalence of DV in Iran was between 21 and 94%. A review study by Vamghi et al., which investigated DV in Iran, showed that the overall prevalence of violence against women in the family, based on the results of studies in Iran, includes a wide range from 17.5 to 93.6 percent. The highest frequency of types of abuse in general and in the general population was related to psychological abuse and the least was sexual abuse. Also, it seems that the interaction of a set of individual, situational, social and cultural factors play a role in creating violence [98]. According to the findings presented in the systematic review and meta-analysis of Adineh et al., the prevalence of DV in Iran was 22.9%. The highest prevalence was 94.7% in Tehran and the lowest prevalence was 5.4% in Zahedan [99]. According to Semahegn et al.'s study in Ethiopia, the lifetime prevalence of DV against women by a spouse or intimate partner was between 20 and 78% among 10 studies [11]. In addition, a systematic review by Orpin et al. in Nigeria showed that the prevalence of DV during pregnancy was between 2.3% and 44.6%, with lifetime prevalence between 33.1% and 63.2% [100].

DV is caused by a set of interwoven factors, such as patriarchy, cultural beliefs, societal norms, unemployment, and low levels of education [101]. Systematic review study Abdi et al., who investigated the social factors that determine DV in rural women in developing countries, showed that the most common factors affecting violence against women are the Structural factors are early marriage, low literacy and husband's addiction to alcohol and drugs [102]. Semahegn et al.'s study in Ethiopia showed that DV against women was significantly associated with alcohol consumption, history of family violence, occupation, religion, educational status, place of residence, and decision-making power [11]. Mshweshwe's study in South Africa showed that the violence caused is transmitted to the next generations [101].

The results of this study are divided into 6 main factors (individual, social, psychological, pregnancy, economic and cultural) and 21 sub-factors. In a systematic review and meta-analysis by Özcan et al. in Turkey, 22 risk factors were identified in the studies, and these risk factors were summarized in three distinct categories: Socio-demographic characteristics, well-being-related characteristics and marriage-related characteristics. The most common characteristics investigated were socio-demographic [103]. In a scoping review study by Alsawalqa et al., which investigated Jordanian women's resistance strategies against DV, it showed that the most common strategies are silence and not asking for help, reporting to family members or friends, requesting legal and social advice, and reporting to Police or health care providers [104].

DV and its many consequences affect the individual, family and society. The results of our study showed that different individual factors such as age, education, marriage, and children are effective on DV. According to Sapkota et al.'s systematic review, the individual factors affecting DV were: husband's alcohol consumption, women's and men's education level, and women’s age at the time of marriage, and exposure to violence in childhood [105]. A study in Africa found that due to differences in demographic and ancestral characteristics, there is a significant gender gap in attitudes toward DV, with women more likely than men to justify violence [106]. A systematic review and meta-analysis study by Davoudi et al. showed that women's having a university education was a protective factor and women's lack of employment was a risk factor for being exposed to physical violence [107]. The help-seeking behaviors of victims of DV are often influenced by individual, family, and social situation factors that cause them internal shame and confusion.

The results of our study showed that different social factors such as addiction, interference of others, history of violence, divorce, family structure, marital relationship, social class, and social capital are effective on DV. Effective social support of family, friends and neighbors plays an important role in reducing DV. On the other hand, addiction, divorce, mental illnesses increase DV. According to Sapkota et al.'s systematic review, at the societal level, patriarchal beliefs and norms supporting violence were risk factors [105]. Dastjerdehei et al.'s qualitative study showed that poverty, addiction, delinquency, infertility of the victim, family and cultural differences, inability to create emotional relationships, and high-risk sexual relationships are factors of DV [108]. Borisov et al.'s study showed that DV also reduces the mental, social and physical health of victims [109]. Different types of violence negatively affect different dimensions of women's well-being.

The results of our study showed that psychological factors have a significant effect on the occurrence of DV. Many women victims of DV have suicidal thoughts or unsuccessful suicide experiences. Therefore, women affected by DV suffer from significant mental disorders. Studies have shown that DV affects women's mental health and quality of life. In addition, exposure to VD increases the use of medical services [110]. A study in Finland found that women who experienced DV had worse quality of life and mental health [111]. Howard et al.'s meta-analysis showed that increased likelihood of experiencing DV among women with high levels of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the prenatal and postpartum periods was consistently reported in cross-sectional studies [112]. Our study showed that the history of mental illness, depression, anxiety, stress and behavioral disorder aggravated DV.

The results of our study showed that pregnancy factors have a significant effect on the occurrence of DV. Premature birth, unwanted pregnancies, and abortions contribute to DV. A meta-analysis by Shah et al. found that low birth weight and preterm births were increased among women exposed to DV [113]. O'Reilly's systematic review found that interventions for pregnant women who had experienced DV reduced the amount of violence experienced by these women [114].

The results of our study showed that different economic factors such as income, employment, residence status, economy class, and economic situation are effective on DV. Economic problems and unemployment can be the basis of violence against women. When a person is frustrated, he shows aggressive behavior. This behavior includes attacking, breaking, hurting or threatening the source of failure. A study in Africa found that ethnic groups where women were less involved in enterprise production experienced higher levels of DV [106].

Attitudes toward DV vary widely among individuals, families, communities, health care providers, and law enforcement agencies. This difference in attitudes creates instability that has a different effect on victims'help-seeking behaviors. The results of our study showed that different cultural factors such as patriarchy, traditional of society, cultural development, and ethnicity are effective on DV. False beliefs encourage women to keep the issue of DV private, tolerate violence and remain silent about it. The findings of a study in China showed that two cultural and institutional factors in a society are related to the risk of DV against women [115]. Another study in South Africa found that inflexible gender hierarchies, enforced through culture and the dominant position of men in the home, influence DV [101]. A study in Australia found that although there was general agreement that participants'cultural beliefs did not condone violence, cultural constructs associated with beliefs were identified that led to abuse against women being overlooked [116]. A study by Gudari et al. in Shiraz showed that a higher religious attitude caused less violence in women [117]. According to Iran's cultural context, religious leaders play an important role in moral, spiritual and social support, so paying attention to the role of religion, beliefs, and community traditions can be helpful.

One of the limitations of this study was the lack of proper separation between social, economic and cultural factors in different studies. In such a way that some studies considered social and cultural factors and some studies considered social and economic factors to be of the same type. The authors of this study have tried to consider all the factors. Therefore, the authors of this study have turned this limitation into an opportunity and we have considered all the effective factors, which can be called the strength of this study.

Conclusion

The results of our study showed that many individual, social, psychological, pregnancy, economic and cultural factors affect DV against women. Since most of the studies conducted in this field are cross-sectional, longitudinal research helps to assess the direction of this relationship. It is recommended that the factors identified in this study be taken into consideration by health service providers and health system policy makers.

Considering the high prevalence of DV against women in Iran, policy makers and health system managers should look for solutions to reduce this health and social problem. Also, by formulating policies to improve the level of social support for women and informing the public about the importance of this issue, its increase can be prevented. Factors such as the expansion of counseling and treatment centers in comprehensive health service centers, life skills training, interventions appropriate to cultures and social norms, and the implementation of campaigns to increase awareness of DV are particularly important in reducing this phenomenon in society.

Data availability

The result of this systematic review was extracted from the data gathered and analyzed based on the stated methods and materials. All the relevant data are within the paper.

Abbreviations

DV:

Domestic Violence

UNGA:

United Nations General Assembly

WHO:

World Health Organization

PRISMA:

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

CI:

Confidence Interval

PTSD:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran

    Leila Manzouri & Mohammad Moardi-Joo

  2. National Center for Health Insurance Research, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Seyed-Nezhad

  3. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ghasem Rajabi-Vasokolaei

  4. Medicine Faculty, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

    Alireza Arabi

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Contributions

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follow: study conception and design: MMJ, MSN, LM, AA, GRV; data collection: MMJ, MSN, GRV; analysis and interpretation of results: MMJ, LM, AA; Draft manuscript preparation and edit: MSN, MMJ, LM. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mohammad Moardi-Joo.

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Manzouri, L., Seyed-Nezhad, M., Rajabi-Vasokolaei, G. et al. Factors affecting domestic violence against women in Iran: a scoping review. BMC Women's Health 25, 231 (2025). https://doiorg.publicaciones.saludcastillayleon.es/10.1186/s12905-025-03770-8

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BMC Women's Health

ISSN: 1472-6874

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