Violence Against Women in Healthcare: Why Medical Training Needs to Change
"Uncover the hidden challenges and essential steps to reshape medical education for better support and care."
Healthcare settings should be safe havens, but for women who have experienced violence, these spaces can present additional challenges. While medical professionals strive to provide care, systemic issues and gaps in training can hinder their ability to offer truly supportive and effective treatment.
Research highlights a critical need for healthcare providers, particularly doctors, to be better equipped to recognize, understand, and address violence against women. Traditional medical education often overlooks the social and gendered dimensions of health, focusing instead on purely biological aspects of illness. This narrow focus can lead to missed opportunities for intervention and may even perpetuate harm.
This article explores the findings of a study examining how medical professionals perceive and respond to violence against women in their daily practice. By understanding these perceptions, we can identify key areas where medical education and training can be improved to ensure more compassionate, effective, and equitable healthcare for all women.
What the Available Data Shows
The supplied sources establish that sexual violence affects millions of people in the United States, but they do not provide a specific prevalence estimate for violence against women in healthcare. A 2025 U.S. violence report describes prior research documenting elevated risks of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, bullying, and other interpersonal violence among women and sexual and gender minority populations. The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women says its Research and Evaluation Initiative studies strategies to prevent and address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, while the VAWnet resource page compiles public national, state, and local datasets.
Why Screening and Training Fall Short
An article on obstetric and gynecological care reports that effective domestic-violence screening is difficult because of health professionals’ own limitations and feelings, as well as a lack of medical training. An integrative review identifies constraints on intimate-partner-violence response training, including time, curriculum content, institutional endorsement, instructors, teaching strategies, and funding. A 2026 umbrella review sets out to synthesize barriers and facilitators to implementing interventions addressing violence against women in healthcare services, from the perspectives of professionals and users.
From Public-Health Debate to Medical Guidance
The National Library of Medicine’s account describes a surgeon general’s workshop on Violence and Public Health that brought together more than 150 experts across disciplines to discuss evaluation, prevention, and treatment, including for rape and sexual assault and spouse abuse. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ first domestic-violence bulletin outlined abuse’s definition, incidence, and public-health impact and stressed identifying victims and offering medical intervention. These milestones illustrate the development of violence response as a public-health and clinical concern.
The Blind Spot: Gaps in Medical Training on Gender-Based Violence
A significant finding from the research is the distinct lack of comprehensive training on violence against women in medical school curricula. Many healthcare professionals reported that they only encountered the topic superficially, typically within the context of child abuse or sexual assault cases. However, these discussions often lacked a broader perspective, failing to address crucial issues such as gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
- Lack of specialized training leads to discomfort and avoidance of the issue.
- Perpetuates a fragmented approach to care, where social issues are disconnected from medical treatment.
- Reinforces a biomedical perspective that overlooks the root causes of violence.
Evidence on Clinician Readiness and Response
A cross-sectional study surveyed 158 Family Health Strategy doctors in Teresina, Piauí, from March to April 2019, using a questionnaire adapted from the Institute of Applied Economic Research’s Social Perception Indicator System. In Brazil, an evaluation of the HERA primary-care intervention reported that it was feasible and acceptable to women and providers, increased providers’ readiness to identify domestic violence against women, and diversified referrals beyond the health system. A systematic review describes intimate-partner violence against women as a widespread public-health crisis with psychological and healthcare consequences, rooted in systemic gender inequality.
Training Needs Reinforcement
A review of health-sector training on violence against women says services can contribute to addressing violence when they provide qualified care, but reports a continuing challenge: inadequate professional qualification despite its provision for in Brazil’s National Policy to Combat Violence Against Women. A study of an intensive intimate-partner-violence training program for Greek general practitioners and residents cautions that a single program may not sustain knowledge gains in the long term without additional practice changes or repeated training. Together, these findings suggest that training alone may be insufficient unless supported by ongoing qualification and reinforcement.
Differences in Clinicians’ Views and Preparation
One study found a marked difference in views about whether a husband’s assault on his wife should be treated as a medical problem: 54.9% of nurses disagreed, while 72.94% of physicians agreed (P < 0.001). A scoping review of intimate-partner-violence curricula reports that physicians cite lack of time and education as barriers, and examines curricula across medical school, residency, and post-residency training. These sources point to differences both in professional attitudes and in the education available to support clinical responses.
Transforming Healthcare: A Path Forward
The research underscores the urgent need to transform medical education to incorporate comprehensive training on violence against women. This includes integrating gender perspectives, addressing social determinants of health, and fostering critical reflection on personal biases and assumptions.
Embedding Sexual-Violence Education
A 2025 report on medical-student education says a shared context prompted engaged discussion and helped students recognize the relevance of sexual-violence education to their lives and future work as doctors. A 2026 article argues that medical schools should embed sexual-violence education in core curricula so future clinicians can foster safe, respectful, and responsive healthcare environments. Futures Without Violence describes domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking as critical public-health issues worldwide and says their prevalence among women in the United States exceeds that of breast cancer and diabetes combined.
Building a Comprehensive Health-System Response
A 2015 Lancet Series paper reviews evidence for clinical interventions and discusses components of a comprehensive health-system approach to help providers identify and support women subjected to intimate-partner or sexual violence. A 2026 chapter argues that some violent practices persist despite advances in gender equality and reproductive rights, and calls for critical reflection on social and medical structures that perpetuate abuse. It identifies visibility, education, and denunciation as key steps toward change.
Creating safe spaces for healthcare professionals to process their emotional responses and share their experiences is also crucial. Institutions must prioritize the well-being of their staff, providing access to supervision, mentorship, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Ultimately, addressing violence against women in healthcare requires a multi-faceted approach that challenges power imbalances, promotes equity, and empowers both providers and patients. By prioritizing education, fostering empathy, and transforming institutional practices, we can create a healthcare system that truly supports the well-being of all women.