Health Stu Fac

Welcome to the New Look of the Health Students and Faculty Against Domestic Violence Listserv!

May 2005

In the News
  • Study Indicates that Homicide is the Second Leading Cause of Pregnancy-Associated Injury Deaths

      • Announcements
    • Domestic Violence Risk Measurement Tool Available Online

        • Actions YOU Can Take
      • May's Poll Question: We Need Your Input!
      • Support the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

          • IN THE NEWS

          Study Indicates that Homicide is the Second Leading Cause of Pregnancy-Associated Injury Deaths

          The March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health published a CDC report concluding homicide is the second leading cause of traumatic death for women of reproductive age. From 1991 to 1999, for every 100,000 live births in the U.S., at least two women died as a result of homicide during pregnancy or within one year of pregnancy.

          The study found that homicide is the second leading cause of reported injury deaths among pregnant and postpartum women in the United States, ranking behind motor vehicle accidents and ahead of unintentional injury, suicide and other causes. Homicides accounted for 31 percent of the maternal injury deaths documented during this period.

          Women age 20 or younger and African-American women were at highest risk for pregnancy-associated homicide. More than half the victims of these homicides were killed with firearms.

          Women who were abused during pregnancy were three times as likely as women who were not abused during pregnancy to be murdered. Women who received no prenatal health care, or prenatal care only late in their pregnancies, were more likely to be murdered than women who received prenatal care throughout their pregnancies.

          Data was obtained from reports generated by state health department reports and study conclusions recommend improved data collection techniques of this data. Researchers were unable to determine the number of homicides of pregnant or postpartum women that were committed by their husbands or boyfriends.

          The study's authors are Jeani Chang, MPH, Cynthia J. Berg, MD, MPH, Linda E. Saltzman, PhD, and Joy Herndon, MS. "Because most pregnant women receive prenatal care or visit their health care provider repeatedly during their pregnancy," they wrote, "prenatal and postpartum clinical visits represent an opportunity for discussion about violence and for referral and possible intervention." This statement is a call for health professional students and faculty to continue their advocacy for domestic violence awareness, screening, and follow-up.

          ANNOUNCEMENTS

          Domestic Violence Risk Measurement Tool Available Online

          Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Associate Dean Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell has made available an updated online Danger Assessment Tool to help women at risk learn their level of danger and to train domestic violence advocates, law enforcement, and health care professionals in measuring and warning danger levels.

          "According to informants who knew the victims," says Dr. Campbell, "only 47 percent of femicide victims accurately predicted their risk before the lethal event and only 53 percent of attempted femicide victims accurately predicted their risk before the attempted murder."

          Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Campbell created the first Danger Assessment (DA) to help victims of abuse and the professionals who work with them to better understand the threats to their safety and well-being. Women who feel they are in danger may visit the website and download the DA for free. The results are best interpreted, however, by a person certified to use the DA scoring system. Criminal justice, health care and advocacy practitioners who wish to administer the assessment and interpret the scoring system also may use the website to obtain training and certification.

          The assessment begins by giving a woman a calendar. She is asked to mark the days when physically abusive incidents occurred, ranking each incident's severity on a scale between one and five. This exercise can heighten the woman's awareness of her situation and reduce denial and minimization of the abuse. When the DA was originally developed, Dr. Campbell found that 38 percent of women who initially reported no increase in severity and frequency changed their response to "yes" after filling out the calendar.

          The second part of the assessment asks the woman 20 questions designed to identify danger within the relationship. Each question addresses a specific behavior that is a significant predictor to intimate partner homicide. The list includes questions such as "Does he own a gun?" "Is he an alcoholic or problem drinker?" and "Does he threaten to harm your children?"

          According to Dr. Campbell, "Women using the DA can gain a better understanding of their risk and decrease their chances of becoming femicide victims." She added, "Now that the assessment is easily accessible to battered women, advocates, and other practitioners, perhaps some of those 1,200 murders may be prevented."

          Dangerassessment.org is presented through the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing, the joint JHU School of Nursing and the JHH Department of Nursing initiative formed to promote and support nursing excellence and to foster communication and collaboration between nursing education and nursing practice.

          Source: Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing; Released: Wed 23-Feb-2005, 11:20 ET

          ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

          May's Poll Question: We Need YOUR Input

          This is the first installment of a regular Listserv section in which subscribers can post questions for response by group members. Please respond to this question by emailing the moderator at arunavenk@gmail.com. We will post responses to this question in the June Installment in addition to posing a new poll question.

          QUESTION: Does anyone have interactive class exercises to help teach providers how to initiate conversations with patients who are experiencing violence in their family or household?

          Support the Violence Against Women Act

          We need your help. Please contact your Representative and Senators and ask them to quickly reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which expires this September. VAWA was the first federal legislation to address domestic and sexual violence as a crime that causes tremendous harm to our society. We need your help to ensure that this critical legislation is reauthorized and strengthened - please call, fax, or email your Members of Congress today.

          Four Ways to Take Action to Support the Violence Against Women Act:

          1. Click Here to send an email to your legislators.

          2. Call your Members of Congress. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators and Representative. Use the phone script below as a guide.

          Health Students and Faculty Against Domestic Violence is a monthly listserv aimed to network health students and faculty from across the country who are interested in improving the health sector response to domestic violence. To subscribe email arunavenk@gmail.com.

          We encourage you to use this listserv to announce upcoming events you are planning or to pose questions to the group. To post an announcement or ask a question, send an e-mail to arunavenk@gmail.com.

          The listserv is moderated by Aruna Venkatesan, Health Intern with the Family Violence Prevention Fund and First Year Medical Student at the University of California, San Francisco

          Thank you for contributing to our community!

          To learn more please visit our website http://www.endabuse.org/health