Huda Ghazi Hameed, Salam Jasim Mohammad* and Fatima Mhommed Hassen
Background: Violence against teachers is a significant yet under-investigated problem in Iraq that has profound
implications for schooling, teacher retention and overall student performance.
Objectives: The study aims to shed light on the prevalence of Workplace violence against primary and secondary
schools teachers in Al-Najaf Al- Ashraf city and to identify some associated factors.
Subject and method: A cross-sectional study was performed during the period of 1st of April 2017 to 1st of
February 2018 covering 308 teachers from 21 governmental schools aged 20-75 years of both genders; both teachers
and schools were randomly selected. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire designed especially
for this study.
Results: Of the 308 teachers, 79 (25.6%) admitted exposure to violence in the last 12 months, 67(21.8%) of
the teachers verbally abused, 17 (5.5%) exposed to physical violence and 20 (6.5%) exposed to property damage.
No significant differences found between the exposure to the violence and gender, age, academic degree, years of
practice of the teachers, location, type of schools and number of students in the classroom as (p=0.975, 0.8, 0.2, 0.9,
0.8, 0.5 and 0.3 respectively). The students were the aggressors in about two-thirds of the cases (n=53, 67.1%) while
the parents were the aggressors in the remaining third (n=26, 32.9%).
Conclusions: The violence against teachers is a significant problem in Iraqi schools as 25.6% of the teachers
reported violence in the past 12 months. It is affecting teachers regardless of their gender, age, academic degree, their
years of practice, the location of the school and number of students in the class.
