The sex-role of university students and their attitudes toward violence against women in the name of honor

ABSTRACT

Honor includes positive behaviors such as integrity, honesty and morality for both men and women. In some cultures, honor refers to sexual purity. It is very important to know and scientifically demonstrate the value judgments of university students about honor since they shape the future. This study examined the sex-role of university students and their attitudes toward violence against women in the name of honor in Turkey, one of the countries that has adopted the culture of honor. A total of 1,133 university students participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected by the researchers using the face-to-face interview method between February and May 2019. The data collection tools utilized were a participant information form, the Scale for Attitudes toward Violence against Women in the Name of Honor (SAVWNH) and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. The mean score of the participants on the SAVWNH was 29.36 ± 7.21. The study showed that the male gender, masculine gender role, extended family type and being born in a rural area negatively affected the attitudes toward violence against women in the name of honor. In conclusion, traditional beliefs of the patriarchal society were common among the university students despite their academic environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Sex-role
• violence
• honor
• women
• university students

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all participants for cooperating with this study.

Declaration of conflict of interest

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Ethical standards and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [approved by the Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Social and Humanities Research Ethics Committee] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Büşra Yılmaz

Büşra Yılmaz, MSc., is a Research Assistant at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing in Istanbul.

Çiçek El

Çiçek El, BSc, is a General Surgery Nurse at Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital in Istanbul.

Ergül Aslan

Ergül Aslan, Ph.D., is Professor Faculty Member and Vice Dean at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing in Istanbul.