Intimate-partner violence

Abstract

The WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women1Garcia-Moreno C Jansen HA Ellsberg M Heise L Watts CH on behalf of the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women Study TeamPrevalence of intimate partner violence: findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence.Lancet. 2006; 368: 1260-1269Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1953) Google Scholar indicates the pervasiveness of intimate-partner violence against women worldwide and highlights the urgent need to develop and assess public-health interventions.Programme planning and assessment require information on risk factors. Because population-based surveys are resource-intensive,2WHOPreventing violence: a guide to implementing the recommendations of the World Report on Violence and Health. World Health Organization, Geneva2004Google Scholar injury surveillance systems based on routinely collected data at hospitals or by the police might be appropriate, especially in low-income and middle-income countries.Such systems are under development in some low-income and middle-income countries;3Nakahara S Ichikawa M Injuries are growing public health concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).J Trauma. 2006; 61: 768Crossref PubMed Google Scholar some focus on road-traffic injuries, perhaps because the seriousness of such injuries as a public-health problem is readily visible, whereas that of intimate-partner violence is relatively hidden. Some systems are under revision to bring balance between injury categories by including intimate-partner or other violence and suicide on the data form.The effectiveness of emergency departments or primary health-care centres as settings for intervening in intimate-partner violence would depend on the availability of (1) good screening tools, (2) staff with the skills to address the psychological and physical consequences of violence, and (3) legal measures to support the victims. Unfortunately, however, trauma care guidelines generally cover these topics poorly.Injury surveillance and trauma care systems cannot be well balanced unless both violence and unintentional injuries are addressed, and unless both treatment and prevention are incorporated.I declare that I have no conflict of interest. The WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women1Garcia-Moreno C Jansen HA Ellsberg M Heise L Watts CH on behalf of the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women Study TeamPrevalence of intimate partner violence: findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence.Lancet. 2006; 368: 1260-1269Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1953) Google Scholar indicates the pervasiveness of intimate-partner violence against women worldwide and highlights the urgent need to develop and assess public-health interventions. Programme planning and assessment require information on risk factors. Because population-based surveys are resource-intensive,2WHOPreventing violence: a guide to implementing the recommendations of the World Report on Violence and Health. World Health Organization, Geneva2004Google Scholar injury surveillance systems based on routinely collected data at hospitals or by the police might be appropriate, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. Such systems are under development in some low-income and middle-income countries;3Nakahara S Ichikawa M Injuries are growing public health concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).J Trauma. 2006; 61: 768Crossref PubMed Google Scholar some focus on road-traffic injuries, perhaps because the seriousness of such injuries as a public-health problem is readily visible, whereas that of intimate-partner violence is relatively hidden. Some systems are under revision to bring balance between injury categories by including intimate-partner or other violence and suicide on the data form. The effectiveness of emergency departments or primary health-care centres as settings for intervening in intimate-partner violence would depend on the availability of (1) good screening tools, (2) staff with the skills to address the psychological and physical consequences of violence, and (3) legal measures to support the victims. Unfortunately, however, trauma care guidelines generally cover these topics poorly. Injury surveillance and trauma care systems cannot be well balanced unless both violence and unintentional injuries are addressed, and unless both treatment and prevention are incorporated. I declare that I have no conflict of interest.