Health professionals’ intervention in the context of domestic violence against women: exploring perceptions and experiences of providing healthcare

ABSTRACT

Domestic violence against women is a complex social phenomenon and a widely recognised issue of public health, which requires that all sectors of society, including the health sector, take the necessary action to prevent and address it. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on the role of the primary health care in addressing domestic violence against women, by analysing health professionals’ perceptions of their practice as well as the difficulties they experience in providing healthcare to victims. To fulfil this aim, a qualitative approach was chosen, using focus groups with health professionals working in the area of primary health care in an inland region of Portugal. The main findings point to the lack of a specific protocol and insufficient information and skills to respond to domestic violence situations, which hinders health professionals’ confidence to intervene and tends to orientate them towards a more medical response. Resulting from these findings, implications for practice are discussed: the need for clear and specific orientations to guide health professionals’ intervention; the need to offer training that enables them to provide appropriate healthcare to women experiencing domestic violence; and the need to position themselves in the context of an integrated, multi-sectoral intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• primary health care
• health professionals
• intervention in health
• multi-sectoral intervention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG) is the national body responsible for promoting and defending the constitutionally guaranteed principle of gender equality between men and women. It is a service of the direct administration of the State, responsible for implementing public policies in the field of citizenship and the promotion and defense of gender equality.

2 The ACES are a public health service, with administrative autonomy, made up of several functional units that integrate one or more health centres and whose mission is to guarantee the provision of primary healthcare to the population of a given geographical area.