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Article History

Received: 29 January 2025

Accepted: 3 March 2026

First Online: 18 March 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: Ethical approval was obtained for both primary data collection in Iran and secondary data analysis in the UK. Data collection in Iran was approved by the independent internal ethics committee of Mehre Shams Afarid (MSA), a non-governmental organisation supporting women affected by violence. Secondary data analyses were approved by the ethics committee at City, University of London (VISION consortium; reference ETH21220–299). The study complies with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (Article 23, paragraph 3).

: Before starting the anonymous 30-item online survey (≈5–7 min) titled “A survey on women’s health and relationships,” participants (16+) were given a Participant Information Sheet and provided electronic written consent. It was explained that participation was voluntary; questions could be skipped; withdrawal was permitted at any time before submission, with no data retained thereafter. No direct identifiers (name, address, contact details) were collected. Data are kept confidential and reported only in academic and public outlets. The PIS noted possible sensitivity (relationships, violence, health), no direct personal benefit, and signposted support/resources and contacts.

: Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to participation. Consent was obtained between February 2020 and January 2022. Consent was collected electronically via an online consent form, which participants were required to read and complete before accessing the survey. By ticking the consent box, participants confirmed that they had read the study information and agreed to participate voluntarily. The consent process was administered by the third author via the online survey builder platform called Porsline. Participants were fully informed about the purpose of the study (to explore women’s health and relationships, including experiences of violence and abuse), the voluntary nature of participation, their right to withdraw at any time prior to submission, and the confidential and anonymous handling of data. No identifying information (such as names, addresses, or contact details) was collected, ensuring complete anonymity. The consent form outlined the scope of consent, including agreement to (1) participate in the study; (2) allow anonymised responses to be used for analysis, research, and publication; and (3) understanding that support service information was provided should any question cause distress. A copy of the consent script is available upon request.