Intimate partner violence (IPV) describes physical, sexual, or psychological harm inflicted by a current or former partner, and it happens to be a serious public health issue that is also preventable with the right interventions. 1 in 4 women women in the U.S. experience intimate partner violence in her lifetime. Women exposed to IPV are likely to experience very poor health outcomes compared to non-abused women. Intimate partner violence is also a serious concern during pregnancy, and is associated with many adverse outcomes. 

Healthcare providers are in the best position to confront intimate partner violence, and they are confronting it through IPV screening- essentially a survey consisting of "yes" or "no" questions carried out by the healthcare provider. IPV screening can alert a healthcare provider whether or not their patient has been exposed to IPV. This gives providers the opportunity to report the patient's situation to law enforcement and supply the patient with resources that can help them.

This sounds great, you may be wondering why this petition exists in the first place if such interventions are already in place. However, only 9%-40% of clinicians actually screen for IPV. This limits opportunities for patients to disclose IPV; therefore, many patients aren't receiving the same standard of care as their counterparts who are being screened for IPV. Some reasons for such a low rate of screening include personal discomfort of the provider, inadequate resources (lack of time, training, or privacy to screen), perceptions that IPV screening is not the clinician’s role, fear of offending the patient, and not knowing the proper response to a patient who screens positive. These issues could easily be solved by proper training of staff as well as developing a protocol for IPV screening that is to be followed for each patient.

This will likely require some extra funding for our healthcare facilities in order for them to implement these changes. According to a 2004 study from the University of California, San Francisco, the total cost of IPV against women in the United States exceeds $8.3 billion each year. By taking measures to prevent IPV, this number could be brought down substantially, even with the extra funding to healthcare facilities. 

Preventing IPV will lead to a better quality of life for women and their children, a decrease in health complications for pregnant women experiencing IPV, and an increase of production in the workforce, among other health and economic benefits. 

In the time it took you to read this, nearly 60 people in the U.S. were physically abused by an intimate partner.

We can make a difference.

Sign this petition to:

Get the attention of our state policymakers to direct more funding to healthcare specifically for the purpose of establishing more effective and consistent IPV screening.

Encourage individual healthcare facilities to recognize and act on the benefits of increased, systematic IPV screening.