Qualitative interviews with a small number of health care providers and nongovernmental organization (NGO) staff members were conducted to understand providers’ attitudes to intimate partner violence (IPV) on the Tibetan plateau and the link between these attitudes and prevalent social norms. NGO members have received gender awareness training and tended to consider prevalent gender norms and roles to blame for IPV. Health care providers, on the other hand, tended to endorse these norms. Providers did not appear to conceptually separate abusive and nonabusive conflict, giving rise to perceptions that abuse is commonplace and without traumatic effects. In general, providers did not consider that assisting cases of IPV was part of their professional responsibility. When asked what type of help victims need, health workers focused on reconciliation with perpetrators or emotional support. Providers said they would advise victims to avoid conflict and react to perpetrators with less anger. Respondents also expressed beliefs that victims are sometimes the guilty party responsible for conflict. Respondents felt separation from an abusive partner is generally not an option, because divorce is considered to cause concerns for children, difficult financial circumstances, and a negative reputation for women following divorce. Perceptions that divorce is usually the worst option for women and lack of awareness regarding the difference between abusive and nonabusive conflict should be addressed in health worker training programs and community interventions. Our findings are relevant to other regions of the world in which IPV is not considered extraordinary or serious and in which heavy social and material constraints can act as a barrier to divorce for women.
