ABSTRACT
Objective:
It was aimed to emphasize the relationship between domestic violence and suicides by evaluating the cases referred to prepare a report due to domestic violence, suicide attempt and homicide.
Methods:
From 2014, when Muğla Training and Research Hospital Forensic Medicine Polyclinic was established, until the end of 2022, cases who applied to our polyclinic due to suicide attempt and domestic violence were analyzed separately. The records of the cases who applied due to suicide attempt and those who applied for domestic violence before/after the attempt were evaluated.
Results:
In the 9-year period between 2014-2022, a total of 14.821 reports were prepared in Muğla Training and Research Hospital Forensic Medicine Polyclinic, and 1.099 (7.4%) of them were reported due to domestic violence. In 763 (69.4%) cases reported due to domestic violence, the perpetrator was the spouse/partner, and in the remaining cases, the violence came from other domestic individuals. 686 (89.9%) cases of spousal/partner violence and 180 (53.6%) of cases of nonspousal/partner domestic violence belong to women.
631 (4.2%) of the reports were due to suicide attempt, and 402 (63.7%) of them belonged to women. It was determined that 17 of the female cases who attempted suicide were reported due to violence by spouse/partner before/after the attempt, and in 19 (4.7%) of them, including domestic violence in 2 cases, by spouse/partner and other domestic individuals. In men, the number of cases in this group is 5, and the rate is 2.2%. Only 1 of them is spousal violence and the others are domestic violence. According to results obtained, the rate of suicide attempt in cases of spousal/partner violence was 2.2%, while the rate of suicide attempt was 6.8% in cases diagnosed with mental disorder due to spousal/partner violence.
Conclusion:
It has been suggested that detailed evaluation of both suicide attempters and victims of domestic violence will contribute to the solution of both social problems.