Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault are common violent crimes perpetrated on women. Obstetric (OB) complications associated with trauma include miscarriage, preterm labor, and placental abruption. Ongoing mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, are more prevalent in pregnant women subjected to any form of IPV, whether or not direct physical violence is involved. One study showed that pregnant women subjected to verbal threats were twice as likely to deliver low-birth-weight infants. All women who present to an OB triage unit or an emergency department (not just those who present with an injury or complication) must be screened for IPV. An organized plan for providing the victim with resources must be readily available when a screen is positive. This chapter discusses presenting symptomatology, history and data collection, physical examination, laboratory and imaging studies, differential diagnosis, clinical management and follow-up care of IPV and sexual assault.

This chapter promotes a better understanding of women’s experience of abuse. It articulates strategies used in victim advocacy, and addresses the experiences and needs of female victims of intimate partner violence. The chapter examines common practices used and issues faced by victim advocates–who are often trained social workers–who work with women who have been victimized by a male intimate partner. It also highlights firsthand experiences of a victim advocate for female victims of intimate partner violence. Many women continue to be victims of intimate partner violence, and the work of victim advocates who serve these women is challenging. Advocates must be able to assess the needs of victims, refer them to appropriate services, protect their rights, empower them, and help them navigate the criminal and civil justice systems. These responsibilities require advocates to possess various personal and professional skills and to collaborate with many different professionals.

This chapter defines emerging disabilities; explores medical, psychosocial, and vocational implications of emerging disabilities that distinguish them from traditional disabilities; and provides demographic characteristics of individuals who are most vulnerable to acquiring emerging disabilities. It examines some social and environmental trends that have contributed to the development of emerging patterns and types of disabilities including advances in medicine and assistive technology, globalization, climate change, poverty, violence and trauma, the aging American populace, and disability legislation. Psychological and physical trauma from warfare, violent crime, intimate partner violence, and youth violence can result in permanent physical, cognitive, and psychiatric disabilities. Diagnostic uncertainties, misdiagnoses, and skepticism on the part of medical providers are frequently associated with emerging disabilities. Women also represent a population that is at an increased risk of acquiring emerging disabilities and chronic illnesses. Rehabilitation systems are still not fully prepared to address the multifaceted needs of individuals with emerging disabilities.

Violence against women, also referred to as gender-based violence (GBV), can be physical, sexual, or psychological. Effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on mental health include depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance use. In addition to these health effects, women who experience violence are more likely to acquire HIV. It is clear that violence against women is a major public health issue both in the United States and globally. Cultural and sociopolitical influences have a major impact on how one, as a global society, prevent and intervene in violence against women. Violence against women is a major public health problem globally, but it can be prevented. Recommendations from both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underscore the importance health providers have in both addressing and preventing violence. Nurses are well suited to designing IPV education programs to address women’s reproductive health.

This chapter discusses various types of violence and their impact on human health, functioning, and onset of physical and psychiatric disabilities, and identifies approaches and programs for treating individuals who have sustained disabilities from violent acts. It examines populations that are most vulnerable to violence, and explores trauma-informed approaches to providing services to these clients in all phases of the rehabilitation counseling process. Military sexual trauma (MST) is heavily confounded by military culture, making the decision to report sexual trauma extremely difficult. The functional limitations associated with disabilities acquired through violence can substantially impair survivor’s ability to achieve and maintain competitive employment. Outreach may be particularly necessary to inform individuals with violence-related disabilities about rehabilitation services. Frain et al. emphasized the importance of training in self-management techniques for veterans because they tend to have poor self-management skills.

This chapter discusses issues of power, the cycle of violence, learned helplessness (LH), the battered woman syndrome (BWS), and reasons victims stay in abusive relationships. Violence within intimate relationships can be understood as one partner gaining power over the other partner with the use of coercive and controlling tactics. Such tactics may be reinforced with physical and/or sexual violence. Battered women who acquire LH tend to be at high risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD); their development of LH is associated not only with their abusive situation but also with past difficult life circumstances. The dynamics of domestic violence are so complex that it is difficult for most people to understand why a woman living in an abusive relationship does not simply leave. Many of the common explanations for why victims stay are myths.

This chapter focuses on the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on victims of diverse cultural backgrounds and/or at-risk populations who suffer social and economic injustices. It presents the barriers experienced by victims who are members of diverse populations, including those who are impoverished, older, living in rural areas, same-gender couples, living with disabilities, immigrants, Asian American, African American, Hispanic, Native American, and veterans returning from war. States that adopt the Family Violence Option (FVO) can establish programs, exemptions, and waivers to assist battered women. Persons who recruit women into the sex industry are known to social workers and law enforcement as controllers, traffickers, and pimps. Without performing proper screening to identify victims of sex trafficking, law enforcement may arrest victims under other prostitution statutes and subject them to further trauma. When members of at-risk and diverse populations are also victims of domestic violence, they live in multiple jeopardy.

This chapter reviews the characteristics and typologies of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators as well as methods to determine their level of lethality and motivation to change. Many perpetrators are treated in batterer intervention programs (BIP) which attempt to change their cognitive and behavioral patterns, thus discontinuing their abusive acts. Many perpetrators have a history of child abuse. They may have been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused, have witnessed IPV, or have been maltreated in some other manner. Substance abuse may also co-occur with IPV. Some researchers suggest that substance abuse is involved in anywhere from 20 to 80 of domestic violence cases. Although most traditional research and the literature addressing IPV between heterosexual couples focuses on female victims and male perpetrators, increasingly men are being recognized as the victims of female perpetrators.

In 1976, to protect victims from partner violence, some US courts began issuing orders of protection by 1989, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had legislation authorizing these orders. The 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) enabled federal courts to prosecute intimate partner violence (IPV) crimes across interstate lines, including violations of civil protection orders, as well as to impose enhanced sentences on defendants convicted of federal crimes. This chapter addresses orders of protection, the process for obtaining them, the debate as to their effectiveness, mandatory arrest, no-drop policies, and social workers’ responsibilities within the criminal justice system. Social workers can run batterer intervention programs (BIP) which assist perpetrators in changing their attitudes and behaviors toward intimate partners. If perpetrators successfully complete the programs, they can avoid further retribution including jail, removal of firearms, and fines.