**2. Social and women associated characteristics**

The features of societies determine women's responsibilities within those societies and represent the key to attitudes toward them. For example, the image of the child as representing the future of the community developed very early in Turkish society. Understanding of and sympathy towards motherhood and children are therefore among the factors that shaped Turkish traditions and customs (9). The elevated position ascribed to motherhood is even more apparent in the saying "*Paradise lies under [one's] mothers' feet*." However, there are other perspectives that also judge a woman's position in society. For instance, the traditional Turkish saying "you must always keep a rod to a woman's back and a child in her belly" expresses a way of thinking that regards physical or sexual abuse of women as something quite natural.

Ninety-nine percent of the population of Turkey is Muslim. Islam recognizes that both men and women have sexual drives and rights to sexual fulfillment and affirms heterosexual relations within marriage and lawful relationships. But explicit discussion of sexuality is

Researching Sexual Abuse in Societies

support for women exposed to violence.

of


countries.

cohort study.

percentages.

**4. Characteristics of existing studies** 

in Which Sexuality Is Regarded as Taboo: Difficulties and Proposed Solutions 203

In addition to research aimed at determining the scale of the phenomenon in different societies, studies by nongovernmental organizations represent a further source of information. There is no screening program for abuse or violence towards women in Turkey. All that exists are the refuges or shelters known as "Purple Roofs," intended for women, or men, who seek their help and which provide judicial, social and psychological

This section is intended to elicit conclusions by examining research on sexual abuse in terms

In terms of methodology, existing studies are mainly cross-sectional surveys based on an observational approach, while there may be a few case studies performed from patient presentations and fewer still of the quantitative focus group and in-depth interview type.

A simple description of the health status of a community, based on routinely available data or on data obtained in special surveys, is often the first step in an epidemiological investigation. In many countries this type of study is undertaken by a national centre for health statistics. Pure descriptive studies make no attempt to analyze the links between exposure and effect. They are usually based on mortality statistics and may examine patterns of death by age, sex or ethnicity during specified time periods or in various

Cross-sectional studies measure the prevalence of disease and thus are often called prevalence studies. In a cross-sectional study the measurements of exposure and effect are made at the same time. It is not easy to assess the reasons for associations shown in crosssectional studies. The key question to be asked is whether the exposure precedes or follows the effect. If the exposure data are known to represent exposure before any effect occurred, the data from a cross-sectional study can be treated like data generated from a

Cross-sectional studies are relatively easy and inexpensive to conduct and are useful for investigating exposures that are fixed characteristics of individuals, such as ethnicity or blood group. In sudden outbreaks of disease, a cross-sectional study to measure several

Data from cross-sectional studies are helpful in assessing the health care needs of populations. Data from repeated cross-sectional surveys using independent random samples with standardized definitions and survey methods provide useful indications of trends. Each survey should have a clear purpose. Valid surveys need well-designed questionnaires, an appropriate sample of sufficient size, and a good response rate. Cross sectional studies are generally conducted "door to door" or "face to face" following appropriate sampling. The numerical data obtained are presented as prevalence and

exposures can be the most convenient first step in investigating the cause.

taboo in Turkey (10). Severe restrictions are imposed on sexuality under Islam, however. It is sometimes believed that if unsatisfied or uncontrolled, female sexuality might lead to social chaos (*fitna*), and that social order thus necessitates male control of women's bodies (9). Extramarital relations are forbidden in Islam. The woman has a duty to meet the sexual needs of the man to whom she is married. Although monogamy is common in Turkey in the strictly legal sense, the fact that society regards it as normal for a man to have extramarital relations outside religious laws, and that it is the man's wishes that play the determining role in the quantity, time, quality and form of sexual relations in marriage, makes the perception of the concept of sexual abuse difficult, for which reason it becomes a supposedly natural state of affairs for a woman to be exposed to sexual abuse.

The concept of approach to risk in terms of public health entails the principle of some service provision for all, but more for those at risk. In that light, all women may be at risk of sexual abuse, but some are at greater risk than others. These factors increase women's vulnerability. One of the most common forms of sexual violence around the world is that which is perpetrated by an intimate partner, suggesting that one of the most important risk factors for women - in terms of vulnerability to sexual assault - is being married or cohabiting with a partner. Other factors influencing the risk of sexual violence include:


Identification of women meeting these criteria will constitute the main objective for both research and for solving the problem.
