We all need a safe home and family. There is no consensus on the definition of the “normal” and “healthy” family, but the common feature is that the family consists of indivuduals who are from both genders and different generations. The members are tied by blood or by marriage. In a healthy relationship, partners have good communication with each other, they love and support each other and they are excepted to be equal individuals. On the other hand, most of the families have a hierarchy according to age and gender. The powerful one controls the others. Whatever the gender orientation all respectful family members are seen as heterosexual. According to Human Rights Decleration and different conventions such as CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) men and women are equal and neither is in a positon of control. This convention is signed by most of the UN countries.

It is a well-known fact that women often face the greatest risk at home and in familiar settings. This problem was hidden inside the home for a long time. Only very recently, in the last decades, it was scientifically proved as well. One of the comprehensive study done by a group from John Hopkins University which consists of 50 different samples from different societies, showed that all women groups had experienced violence. These women were most often exposed to violence by their family members mostly by their intimate partners. Another, multicountry comprehensive report developed by WHO addressed violence as a global health problem (The World Report on Violence and Health). According to these studies, physical and sexual violence against women occurs in industrialized as well as developing countries. Impact of violence have consequences to the individual and all family members and has tremendous cost to society both economic and social. The women who are exposed to violence at home frequently asked for help in medical and mental health settings. But when they seek help they do not mention family problems. Thus, they try to solve a general problem by simplifying it to an individual problem. Women generally do not openly mention the presence of violence, but they mention various somatic and psychologic complaints.

During this presentation, the principles and the problems of prevention and intervention for violence against women in the family will be discussed. Since the problems of violence are multilevel, these interventions should be multileveled, from societal / global, community-based, and individual/ family interventions. First of all, therapists and family therapists who work with a women or a minor should be aware of the possibilities of violence at home. The critical issue for counselors when they discovered violence at home, working with an abusive relationship, is knowing when it is best to work toward keeping the couple together and when it is best to counsel the family for separation