Abstract:

Objectives: Combating intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a great effort in terms of women's health and women's rights. The role of the health sector in this effort is important. It was aimed to determine the attitudes of health personnel working in public hospitals in Kırklareli on IPV against women. Materials and Methods: The study population was 1210 staff working in public hospitals in Kırklareli in April, 2020. The sample size was calculated as 438 and the participation rate as 92.9% (N=407). The data were collected using the socio-demographic form and the "Health Care Provider Survey of Intimate Partner Violence Attitudes and Practices". The data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests were used for not normally distributed dataset. Results: It was determined that health staff working in public hospitals in Kırklareli had positive attitudes towards their professional roles in terms of violence against women (mean score 103.13±6.42). In our study, it was understood that physicians differed in the "Abuse inquiry" and "Practice pressures" constructs of the scale (p<0.05). There is a statistically significant difference in the mean scale score averages of the health staff in terms of their training status on violence against women (p<0.05). Conclusion: It has been observed that the attitudes of healthcare professionals working in Kırklareli public hospitals towards violence against women are positive. It has been understood that the most important factor affecting this situation is that the staff receive training during and after their graduation.

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