Table 2. Categories and Sub-categories emerged from open ad axial coding.

The role of dehumanization preceding Intimate partner vio-lence	The role of dehumanization following intimate partner vio-lence
Attitudes of society toward women	Intimate Partner Violence
	-Physical violence
	-Psychological violence
	-Sexual violence
What men thought of their wives from their perspective	Women’s Emotions:
-Women’s low cognitive ability	-Inferiority
-Women being worthless	-Hatred
	-Anger
Strategies used by the victims in response to their husband’s violence	Women’s Cognitions:
-Active strategies	-Women’s low cognitive ability in their husbands’ perspective
-Attempting to leave the home	-Women being worthless in their husbands’ perspective
-Retaliating the violent husband	-Being emotionally cold
-Passive strategies	-Being powerless
-Regret of marriage	-Illogicality of the husband
-Cursing and wishing for the husband’s death	-Husbands’ lack of understanding
Thoughts associated with death and suicide	-Husband worthlessness
	-Husbands’ impulsivity
Dehumanization of women	Experiencing Dehumanization:
	-Self-dehumanization
	-Dehumanization of husband
	-Experiencing being dehumanized
Domestic violence:	Strategies used by the victims in response to their husband’s violence
-Physical violence	-Active strategies
-Psychological violence	-Attempting to leave the home
-Sexual violence	-Retaliating the violent husband
	-Passive strategies
	-Regret of marriage
	-Cursing and wishing for the husband’s death
	-Thoughts associated with death and suicide
Experiencing Dehumanization:	Exacerbating dehumanization of women
-Self-dehumanization
-Dehumanization of husband
-Experience of being dehumanized
	Aggravating factors:
	-Being pregnant
	-Presence of others