Interpersonal verbal and physical abuse against female nurses and doctors in Karachi, Pakistan.

Verbal and physical abuse is a global social and criminal issue against women. The aim of the study is to estimate the prevalence of verbal and physical abuse against married female nurses and doctors working in the tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. A descriptive cross-sectional study done with 350 married female nurses and doctors. This study used the self-administered modified truncated WHO Multi-Country Study (2005) tool. Descriptive and univariate analysis were performed. The result showed that verbal abuse (97.1%) was the most frequent form followed by physical (59.4%) abuse. The most common responses of verbal and physical abuse are fought back and remain quiet. The main reason for using silence was fear of escalating the violence. This study has identified that verbal and physical abuses are highly prevalent among nurses and doctors.