At present, women are exposed to a number of challenges resulting from stresses imposed by modern life and the rapid changes in communities conditions and individual way of life. This reflected negatively on family relations according to specific indicators such as; high rates of family disintegration and divorce cases, increased domestic violence incidents and violence against wives, in most communities.

Domestic violence is a social phenomenon that occurs in all communities, it may be related to socioeconomic factors and has cultural bases that draws a relationship based on gender discrimination.  The Qatari society, like other societies, has increasing numbers of domestic violence cases, this is revealed by the lawsuit cases submitted in front of courts, the data provided by the Qatar Foundation for the protection of children and women, as well as findings of studies conducted in the field.

Based on these conclusions, a field study was carried out in order to identify the real dimensions of this issue and to monitor the factors that influence the nature of relations between family members in the Qatari society, especially marital relationships.  The study examined the relationship between the spouses and involved 1117 Qatari married women during January and February of 2008. The study revealed a number of important results.