Routinely asking women about domestic violence

Editor—The notion that, because some social problem has effects on health, this justifies medical intervention aiming to tackle it has acquired a growing influence on medical practice. The result is that medicine is stretched beyond its sphere of competence as social problems are redefined in medical terms.

Surveys conducted by promoters of the concept of partner abuse are said to reveal that up to a half of all women are victims¹. Such contentious statistics are used to support the proposal that general practitioners should subject their female patients to routine inquiry to identify whether they are currently being abused².

General practitioners are said to be in a unique position to identify partner abuse because of our privileged access to intimate aspects of our patients' lives. But making such intrusive and impertinent inquiries when women consult us is an abuse of the doctor-patient relationship. Although activists claim that interrogating women about their experience of abuse can empower them, such interventions enhance professional power.

When we as doctors identify the hidden cases of partner abuse, we are supposed to encourage them to access support services. Whether many women will benefit from professional support is doubtful, but ill considered professional interference in intimate personal relationships will inevitably prove damaging.