Humera Ansar, Fauzia Adil.
Screening for violence against women.
Med Channel Jan ;13(1):24-7.

OBJECTIVES: To screen the women undergoing violence in order to identify the occurrence, types, risk factors, perpetrators and effects of violence. DESIGN: Single centre, prospective study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Isra University Hospital, Hyderabad for a period of two years, from January 2003 – December 2004. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Random selection of 1787 women was made from the out patient department and the ward of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, Isra University, Hyderabad. They were interviewed for violence after obtaining their consent and assessment was made using a questionnaire. The main outcome measures included frequency, type, cause perpetrator and the effect of violence. RESULTS: Out of 1787 women included in the study, 1483 (82.98%) women admitted to have suffered from violence, 1293 ( 87.18 %) women gave history of psychological violence which included the verbal as well, 845 (56.97 %) women had been affected physically while 400 (26.97 %) had suffered from sexual violence. The most common cause included low socioeconomic status ( 74.24 %) due to low income of the family, others included short tempered husbands, misunderstandings, infertility and other issues. The person most commonly inflicting violence was the husband ( 55.15 %), others contributing in violence included fathers, mothers in law, employer, colleagues and other family members. The effects of such suffering included psychological disturbances in most of the women ( 87.00 %), followed by unwanted pregnancies ( 11.70 % ), physical injuries, preterm labour; divorce, abortions antepartum haemorrhage and disabilities. CONCLUSION: Violence against women is common and is relevant to all aspects of reproductive health care. Thus every woman should be screened for violence.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com