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Domestic Violence and Women's HealthI am writing today to express disappointment and, yes, dismay, that the number one health care issue of women in this country is completely absent from the agenda of the Illinois Women's Health Conference scheduled in October. Battering is the greatest single cause of injury to women in the United States between the ages of 15 and 44 — more than muggings, rapes and auto accidents combined. Each year, more than one million women seek medical assistance for injuries caused by battering. Yet it is estimated that only about one third of female violence victims seek medical help. Often these women are severely injured. On the whole, from 22 to 35 percent of women who visit emergency rooms are there for injuries related to ongoing partner abuse. About 25 percent of pregnant women seeking prenatal care have been battered during their pregnancies. Premature births, developmental delays and disabilities may be some of the results of this battering. Forty-five percent of female intimate violence victims are living in households with children younger than 12. In half to two-thirds of these homes, the abuse extends to the children. From the time A Safe Place/ Lake County Crisis Center sheltered its first 18 battered women and their children 21 years ago, we have worked diligently to bring this issue before the communities we serve in northeastern Illinois. We have unlocked the door to the hidden secrets of physical, psychological and emotional abuse and flung it open wide. Domestic violence programs throughout Illinois have exposed this pervasive issue in every neighborhood from the very affluent to the very poor, from all socioeconomic levels and from every religious, racial and ethnic background. A Safe Place has educated professionals in law enforcement and justice systems, health care and other service providers who come in contact with victims, and our citizens at large so they also recognize the signs of domestic violence and name it for what it is. The Attorney General of Illinois has recognized A Safe Place for its court advocacy in assisting victims in obtaining orders of protection. A grant from the Women's Health Initiative program has allowed us to provide awareness training to beauty stylists who often become the confidants of victims, so that they can offer appropriate referrals for services. The Illinois Department of Human Services requested we staff a co-location office in Lake County to offer immediate counseling and assistance to the many survivors who visit this office. American business is awakening to the magnitude of the costs, human and economic, that domestic violence wreaks on their employees. Sick leave, absenteeism, increased healthcare costs, as well as low productivity and employee turnover translate to additional corporate costs of three to five billion dollars a year. Many of the related health issues of domestic violence victims are found in the programming for the Illinois Women's Health Conference: depression, eating disorders, smoking and substance abuse. But nowhere do I see a major underlying cause, partner abuse, recognized and addressed. Most victims of domestic violence do not share their pain or their fears with their own physician, let alone family or friends or even their clergyman. By ignoring the number one threat to health and life of one out of every four women in this country, you have pushed today's victims back in the closet and dimmed their hope of a healthy future, free from violence. Phyllis A. DeMott *In a letter addressed to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Office of Women's Health. If you would like more information about A Safe Place and the domestic violence help services and programs we provide, please call us at 847-249-5147 or email us at info@asafeplaceforhelp.org.
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Everyone has the right to a violence-free, safe and healthy life. Copyright ©2001-2009 A Safe Place. All rights reserved. |
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