Violence and Abuse Against Women Who Have Attempted Suicide by Deliberate Self-Poisoning

Abstract

Sources of data about the occurrence of domestic violence are scarce in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavioral effects of different types of domestic violence on women who had attempted suicide by deliberate self-poisoning (DSP). A total of 195 women who had attempted suicide by DSP in response to “violence and abuse” were followed up for 2 years. The most common type of violence, as mentioned by the women themselves as the motive of self-poisoning, was physical abuse (92%) followed by verbal abuse (2.1%), multi-abuses (2.1%), emotional abuse (1.6%), and sexual abuse (1.1%). Suicidal ideation and attempt were more common in those who were consulted sometime after they had initially presented to the hospital with DSP or those who had suffered repeated domestic abuse. It was concluded that invention of methods other than the current consultation system is necessary to prevent repeated suicide attempts among abused women in Iran.