oa Attributes of the Victims of Domestic Violence in Qatari Society

Background: Little is known about domestic violence in Qatar due various cultural factors. Further, the studies that exist ignore victims’ social and cultural factors that prevent the victims from seeking help. That is, there are factors related to family dynamic, gender roles, and culture constraints which make it difficult for victims of domestic violence form seeking help or protection.

Methods: Data collected from 50 cases of domestic violence in Qatar. The data were collected via face-to-face interview in-depth interviews with individuals who experienced various forms of domestic violence in Qatar.

Results: The study found that young married females with low level of educational attunement were more likely than other women to experienced domestic violence. Also, most cause of domestic violence started in early childhood. The predators of domestic violence such as sexual abuse tends to be a close family members who usually not suspected of such activities.

Conclusions: This study in one of the handful studies in this culturally conservative culture that explored domestic violence which is considered a taboo. The social and cultural factors that enable and hinder victims-help seeking behavior identified in this study needed to be examined further in another sample. There is a need to do more work on this topic to understand other factors that facilitate domestic violence in Qatari society. There is no doubt that conservative gender roles play a major role in perpetuating this issue in Qatari society.