Fact Sheet On Domestic Violence And Health Care Released By Family Violence Prevention Fund
Monday, November 20, 2006 10:32 AM

20 November 2006.  The Family Violence Prevention Fund has released a fact sheet on domestic violence and health care.  The full fact sheet is available here, but some of the important findings are as follows:

  • ¼ to ½ of women have been abused by an intimate partner
  • Annual estimates of domestic violence incidents range from 960,000 to 3.9 million
  • Women are five to eight times more likely to be the victim of abuse by a partner than men
  • Adverse health effects linked to domestic violence are “arthritis, chronic neck or back pain, migraine and other frequent headaches, stammering, problems seeing, sexually transmitted infections, chronic pelvic pain, stomach ulcers, spastic colon, and frequent indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation”; psychiatric disorders; suicide attempts; and depression
  • Children who witness the violence are more prone to behavioral and social problems and are more likely to face abuse themselves
  • From 1987 to 1990, victims of domestic violence incurred $67 billion of the total costs of crime
  • 92% of victims do not discuss incidents of domestic violence with their doctors, and many do not tell anyone; a 2-minute screening has been proven effective for identifying victims in patient care
  • At least 6% of pregnant women are abused each year by their partner, causing a variety of health problems
  • The leading cause of death for pregnant women is homicide

Compiled from Family Violence Prevention Fund, “Get the Facts - Domestic Violence and Health Care”, available http://endabuse.org/programs/display.php3?DocID=25.

For More Information
On domestic violence, click here.

On the role of health providers in prevention of domestic violence, click here.