Primary health care physicians' response to the victims of spousal violence against women in Pakistan

Abstract

In this article we investigates the primary care physicians' response to the victims of spousal violence in Pakistan. By drawing upon the data collected by in-depth interviews from 24 physicians from Lahore and Sialkot, in this research we documented their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior treating the victims of violence. Data revealed that the physicians lacked competence, training, and resources to provide comprehensive care to the victims and relied on a reductionist biomedical model. While identifying some barriers that inhibited the physicians' ability to help the victims, in this article we offer some recommendations for the improvement of physicians' response to spousal violence within Pakistan's cultural context.