PREDICTIVE FACTORS FOR INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Perspectives of Young Adult Men Regarding Violence against Women: A Cross-sectional Study from Turkey Tulay Ortabag & Serpil Ozdemir & Hatice Bebis & Suleyman Ceylan Published online: 25 July 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Women are often victims of male-to-female inti- mate partner violence. The sample in this study consisted of 637 participants who were conscripted soldiers at Gulhane Military Medical Academy in Ankara, Turkey. This research examined the perspectives and perceptions of young adult men toward violence against women and identified potential risk factors for violence. In this study, 8.8 % of the participants reported perpetrating violence against women. Multivariate analysis indicated young adult males whose father acted vio- lently against their mother were 3.5 times more likely to commit violence against women than young men without violent fathers. It is suggested public health nurses could effectively prevent violence by providing health education. Keywords IPV . Violence against woman . Men . Turkey Violence against women is widespread in Turkey and world- wide. This violence is recognized as a serious global public health concern as well as a human rights issue (Ellsberg 2006a; Jones and Horan 2002; Almutairi et al. 2012). Vio- lence against women affects women of all ages, racial and socioeconomic groups, “and is an issue and epidemic in every culture”. Some cultures/nations/countries have acknowledged this violence is a problem (Jones and Horan 2002; Robinson 2003). In the literature, it has been reported male partners may use physical, sexual, and psychological attacks and economic coercion to exert control over their female partners (Jones and Horan 2002). According to a WHO study in multiple coun- tries, the percentage of ever-partnered women who had ever experienced physical or sexual violence (or both) perpetrated by an intimate partner in their lifetime ranged from 15 to 71 % (WHO, 2005). The “National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey, 2009” reported the percentage of women who experience violence at any time in their lives is 39.3 %. In other words, nearly 4 in 10 women in Turkey have been exposed to physical violence from their partner (in NRDVAW 2009). Worldwide, at least 1 in 5 females have been physically or sexually abused by a man or men at some point in their lives (WHO, 2002; Nouri et al. 2012). Violence against women takes many forms: physical, sex- ual, emotional, and economic (Krantz and Garcia-Moreno 2005; Kimuna and Djamba 2008; Langford 2009; Stickley et al. 2008; WHO, 2002). Violence results in acute medical conditions (e.g., injuries to the face, head, neck, breasts, or abdomen) and in chronic conditions (e.g., headaches, abdom- inal pain, pelvic pain, and sexual dysfunction) (Diop-Sidibe´ et al. 2006; Langford 2009; WHO, 2002; Ellsberg 2006b; Montero et al. 2011). Annually, there are 1.6 million deaths worldwide because of violence against women 15–44 years of age (Langford 2009). The consequences of violence against women are not lim- ited to individual harm; the economic burden imposed by the medical costs, penalties, and loss of productivity amounts to millions of dollars each year in countries around the world (Diop-Sidibe´ et al. 2006; Langford 2009; WHO, 2002). The costs of intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking exceed $5.8 billion each year, with nearly $4.1 billion for direct medical and mental health care services. The total costs of intimate partner violence (IPV) also include nearly $0.9 T. Ortabag School of Health Science Department of Nursing, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey S. Ozdemir (*) : H. Bebis Public Health Nursing, School of Nursing, Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GMMA), Etlik, 06010 Ankara, Turkey e-mail: serpilozdemir327@gmail.com S. Ceylan Department of Public Health, Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GMMA), Ankara, Turkey J Fam Viol (2014) 29:665–674 DOI 10.1007/s10896-014-9617-2