Prevalence of Experiences of Partner Violence Among Female Health Staff: Relevance to Awareness and Action When Meeting Abused Women Patients

Stenson, Kristina; Heimer, Gun

doi:10.1016/j.whi.2007.12.003

« PreviousWomen's Health Issues
Volume 18, Issue 2 , Pages 141-149, March 2008

Prevalence of Experiences of Partner Violence Among Female Health Staff:

Relevance to Awareness and Action When Meeting Abused Women Patients

Kristina Stenson, CNM, PhD
- Correspondence to: Kristina Stenson, National Center for Knowledge on Men’s Violence against Women, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Uppsala University Hospital, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. Phone: +46 18 6119860; fax: +46 18 507394.
- Kristina Stenson, CNM, PhD, is a researcher at the National Center for Knowledge on Men’s Violence against Women (NCK) at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research focuses on violence against women, especially pregnant women’s experiences of violence and their attitudes to routine questioning about violence.
Gun Heimer, MD, PhD
- Gun Heimer, MD, PhD, is head and professor of the National Center for Knowledge on Men’s Violence against Women (NCK) at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research focuses on women’s medicine, with reference to domestic violence. Professor Heimer is also a member of the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research in Stockholm, Sweden.

National Center for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Received 16 May 2007; accepted 15 December 2007. published online 29 January 2008.

Background

As violence against women is a prevalent phenomenon, it is quite likely that health workers have experienced such violence. Prevalence among female health staff of emotional, physical and sexual abuse inflicted by a current or previous male partner as well as awareness of violence within the family of origin or among acquaintances were studied. Whether such experiences were associated with practice and knowledge concerning care of abused women was also examinated.

Methods

Questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected female health care workers at a Swedish hospital. Response rate was 68% (588 participating). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed.

Main findings

Emotional, physical and sexual abuse by a current or previous male partner was reported by 23.5%; abuse within family or among acquaintances by 22.1%. Associations between personal experience of violence and aspects of practice and knowledge in bivariate comparisons did not remain significant in binary logistic regression analyses, with one exception. Those with awareness of violence within the family or among acquaintances met abused women more frequently. Training was positively associated with all aspects of care and knowledge.

Conclusion

The prevalence rate of intimate partner violence (23.5%) among female health staff was high and not unlike that of the Swedish female population in general. Training is of greater importance than personal experience of violence in the context of practice and knowledge when meeting abused women as patients. Hence, men’s violence against women should be included in professional education and in in-service training.