Support the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011

Urge the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and President Obama to pass the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 (H.R.1578).

What is the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011?

The Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 (H.R.1578), sponsored by U.S. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY 29), is a bill that is designed to help strengthen the ability of health care providers to identify victims of domestic violence and to help prevent women from being victimized again. The legislation would specifically reauthorize three health programs; changes in the legislation will prioritize evaluation and accountability, as well as to expand the types of medical stakeholders engaged in this important effort.

The Problem

Statistics show that;

-Every nine seconds, a woman is abused in the United States

- Nearly one in four women in the United States reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend at some point in her life, and one in six women reported experiencing a completed sexual assault.

-Nearly one-third of women in the United States report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend some time in their lives. 

Effects on Women’s Personal Health

Domestic violence and sexual violence are public health problems and among the most significant social determinants of health for women and girls. Violence and abuse can affect health in many ways from physical injuries sustained during violent episodes, trauma symptoms including depression and thoughts of suicide, and harmful health coping behaviors such as alcohol and substance abuse.

Women who have experienced violence and abuse are 80 percent more likely to have a stroke, 70 percent more likely to have heart disease, and 60 percent more likely to have asthma than non-abused women. 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have also linked childhood exposure to violence with long-term, chronic health conditions including obesity, arthritis, stroke, and heart disease.

In addition to utilizing the health system at higher rates, victims are more likely to experience a wide range of reproductive health problems including unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted disease/HIV transmission, miscarriages, and more. Abuse increases the likelihood of teen pregnancy; adolescent girls in abusive relationships are 3.5 times more likely to become pregnant than their non-abused peers.

Effects on Employment

 In addition, the Centers for Disease Control conservatively estimates that intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking costs the health system and employers $8.3 billion annually from direct injuries and services and lost productivity from work.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, women experience two million injuries due to intimate partner violence in a year. According to 2009 statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, of the 1,928 women murdered, 609 were wives murdered by their husbands; and 472 were girlfriends murdered by their significant other. In this period of elevated unemployment rates, there is particular cause for concern. The rate of violence in a relationship nearly doubles when a man is unemployed at least once. The rate of violence almost triples when a man experiences multiple periods of unemployment.

Effects on Access to Health Care

Day to day, women who have been abused utilize the health system at much higher rates.  Research published in the Journal of Women's Health in 2007 found that women who are victims of violence have 17 percent more primary care doctor visits, 14 percent more specialist visits, and 27 percent more prescription refills than non-abused women.

Victims of domestic violence know and trust their health care providers. Almost three-quarters of survivors of domestic violence say that they would like their health care providers to ask them about intimate partner violence.

Despite these facts, a critical gap remains in the delivery of health care to victims, with many providers discharging a woman with only the presenting injuries being treated, leaving the underlying cause of those injuries not addressed.

The health system provides an important entry point to reduce violence and abuse and can improve the health status of women, but without training and support on how to assess and respond, providers are not routinely assessing and responding to abuse, missing an important opportunity to help victims and prevent more serious abuse.

The Solution

Most professional health organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, endorse routine assessment for domestic violence.

According to U.S. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY 29), “The health care system is uniquely positioned to take a leading role in fighting and responding to intimate partner violence.” By training our future doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to recognize and help us prevent future domestic attacks, we will be able to save some of the $8.3 billion domestic violence costs our health care system each year. Most importantly we can save women from repeated attacks.”

What will the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act do?

The Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act,(H.R. 1587), serves as the first step in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act which Slaughter co-authored and was signed into law in 1994. The landmark legislation was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005 and will expire later this year. Since its passage, the Violence Against Women Act has transformed our criminal justice and social service system, helping to prevent and respond to domestic violence effectively. Between 1993 and 2008, the rate of intimate partner violence dropped 53 percent.
 
Slaughter’s legislation would specifically reauthorize three health programs; changes in the legislation will prioritize evaluation and accountability, as well as to expand the types of medical stakeholders engaged in this important effort.

The purpose of the pass the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 (H.R.1578), is to;

-(1) strengthening the health care system's assessment of and response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking;

-(2) increasing the number of victims identified and assisted in health or public health settings; and

-(3) expanding research on effective interventions in health settings. The bill would  also involve training doctors and nurses in spotting signs of domestic abuse, and counseling victims in an effort to prevent future violence.

What can you do to get the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 passed?

Please write to and/or call your U.S. Representatives and Senators and President Obama tell them to pass the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 (H.R.1578). Also ask your U.S. Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 (H.R.1578).

Why People Are Signing

Recent Signatures