medical staff question patients too little, according to the High Authority of Health

Ask “systematically” patients, to better identify victims. This is what the High Authority of Health (HAS) recommends to health professionals, according to a study published Friday, November 24, which reveals that only 3% of women say they have been questioned by their general practitioner about possible domestic violence during of the last 18 months.

Since 2019, the HAS “recommends primary care health professionals (general practitioners, gynecologists, pediatricians, emergency doctors, midwives, etc.) to ask all their patients if they are experiencing or have experienced violence, even in the absence of warning signs “. The issue is to “make it easier for victims to speak out by normalizing the subject”, recalls the public authority in a press release.

A large majority of women in favor of systematic questioning

“Contrary to the fears of certain professionals, 96% of the women questioned consider that systematic questioning is a good thing”, observes the HAS. Some of them, however, indicated that they might feel embarrassed (23%), judged (15%) or shocked (13%) by this type of question, but most “still declare that they are in favor of it”.

“On average in France, it is estimated that three to four women out of 10 could be victims of domestic violence among the patients of a general practitioner”, specifies the HAS. The survey was carried out online on a representative sample of 1,000 French women over 18 years old, between September 29 and October 6. It was carried out in collaboration with the company BVA Xsight.