Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
##common.pageHeaderLogo.altText##

Review article: Biomedical intelligence

Vol. 140 No. 3536 (2010)

Domestic violence against women: definitions, epidemiology, risk factors and consequences

  • M Flury
  • E Nyberg
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2010.13099
Cite this as:
Swiss Med Wkly. 2010;140:w13099
Published
30.08.2010

Summary

Background: Domestic violence is considered one of the most common forms of gender-related violence, and various studies estimate that between 10 and 35% of women experience domestic violence at some point in their lives. Nevertheless, it is a frequently neglected problem in crisis intervention centres, emergency wards, and obstetrics and gynaecological emergency rooms.

This paper contributes to clarifying the definition, epidemiology, risk factors and consequences of domestic violence against women as well as the psychopathological profile of victims with a focus on Central European countries.

Although different studies on domestic violence report different risk factors, such as younger age, being unmarried, lower education, violence experienced during childhood and alcohol/drug abuse of the partner or the victim herself, the results show no overall consistency. There seems to be neither a definite risk profile nor a specific association with a psychopathological profile.

Women who have been victimised find it hard to share their experiences and seek help. It is often difficult for medical personnel who encounter these women to recognise violence and discuss this problem with them, just as it is difficult to offer adequate help.

Medical personnel should be alerted to this subject and prepare guidelines for the further management and treatment of abused women. Infor-mation and support for medical staff can help to identify domestic violence, and encourage communication about this problem, thereby leading to a better and more efficient use of available services and resources.

References

  1. Gillioz L, De Puy J, Dueret V. Domination et violence envers la femme dans le couple. Lausanne: Payot; 1997.
  2. WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women: summery report of initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2005.
  3. Hagemann-White C. Strategien gegen Gewalt im Geschlechterverhältnis. Bestandsanalyse und Perspektiven. Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus-Verlagsgesellschaft; 2002.
  4. Müller U, Schröttle M. Lebenssituationen, Sicherheit und Gesundheit von Frauen in Deutschland. Eine repräsentative Untersuchung zur Gewalt gegen Frauen in Deutschland. Zusammenfassung zentraler Studienergebnisse. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ, Hrg.); 2004.
  5. Jungnitz L, Lenz H, Puchert R. Gewalt gegen Männer: Personale Gewaltwiderfahrnisse von Männern in Deutschland – Ergebnisse einer Pilotstudie 2004. Leverkusen: Budrich Verlag; 2007.
  6. Dutton MA. Gewalt gegen Frauen. Diagnostik und Intervention. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber; 2002.
  7. Russel D. Rape in marriage. New York: MacMillan; 1982.
  8. Brownmiller S. Against our will: men, woman and rape. New York: Bantam Books; 1975.
  9. Walker LEA. The battered woman syndrome. New York: Springer Publishing Co; 1984.
  10. Logar R, Rösemann U, Zürcher U. Gewalttätige Männer ändern (sich). Rahmenbedingungen und Handbuch für ein soziales Trainingsprogramm. Bern, Stuttgart, Wien: Haupt; 2002.
  11. Krug E, Dahlberg LL. World report on violence and health. Lancet. 2002;360:1083–8.
  12. Hagemann-White C, Bohne S. Versorgungsbedarf und Anforderungen an Professionelle im Gesundheitswesen im Problembereich Gewalt gegen Frauen. Expertise für die Enquêtekommission «Zukunft einer frauengerechten Gesundheitsversorgung in Nordrhein-Westfalen». Osnabrück. 2003.
  13. Jain D, Sanon S, Sadowski L, Hunter W. Violence against women in India: evidence from rural Maharashtra, India. Rural and Remote Health 4 (online), 2004: no 304 (http://rrh.deakin.edu.au).
  14. Gloor D, Meier H. Frauen, Gesundheit und Gewalt im sozialen Nahraum. Repräsentativbefragung bei Patientinnen der Maternité Inselhof Treimli, Klinik für Geburtshilfe und Gynäkologie, Zürich. Büro für die Gleichstellung von Frau und Mann der Stadt Zürich und Maternité Inselhof Triemli (Hrg.); 2004.
  15. McFarlane J, Parker B, Soeken K, Bullock L. Assessing for abuse during pregnancy. Severity and frequency of injuries and associated entry into prenatal care. JAMA. 1992;267(23):3176–8.
  16. McFarlane J, Parker B, Soeken K. Abuse during pregnancy: associations with maternal health and infant birth weight. Nurs Res. 1996;45(1):37–42.
  17. Gazmararian JA, Lazorick S, Spitz AM, Ballard TJ, Saltzman LE, Marks JS. Prevalence of violence against pregnant women. JAMA. 1996;275(24):1915–20.
  18. Schmuel E, Schenker JG. Violence against women: The physician’s role. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reproduct Biol. 1998;80(2):239–45.
  19. Nojomi M, Agaee S, Eslami S. Domestic violence against women attending gynecologic outpatient clinics. Arch Iranian Med. 2007;10(3):309–15.
  20. Dearwater SR, Coben JH, Campbell JC, Nah G, Glass N, McLoughlin E, et al. Prevalence of intimate partner abuse in women treated at community hospital emergency departments. JAMA. 1998;280(5):433–8.
  21. Abbott J, Johnson R, Koziol-McLain J, Lowenstein SR. Domestic violence against women. Incidence and prevalence in an emergency department population. JAMA. 1995;273(22):1763–7.
  22. Hellbernd H, Brzank P. Häusliche Gewalt gegen Frauen: Gesundheitliche Versorgung. Das S.I.G.N.A.L.-Interventionsprogramm. Handbuch für die Praxis. Wissenschaftlicher Bericht. Berlin; 2004.
  23. Al-Nsour M, Khawaja M, Al-Kayyali G. Domestic violence against women in Jordan: evidence from health clinics. J Family Violence. 2009;24(8):569–79.
  24. Brückner M. Wege aus der Gewalt gegen Frauen und Mädchen. Frankfurt/M: Fachhochschulverlag; 1998.
  25. Bachmann R. Violence against woman: estimates from the redesigned survey Bureau of Justice Statistics special report. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice (Publication no. NCJ-145325); 1995.
  26. Richardson J, Coid J, Petruckevitch A, Chung WS, Moorey S, Feder G. Identifying domestic violence: cross sectional study in primary care. BMJ. 2002;324: [Edited 2 February 2002].
  27. Maffli E, Zumbrunn A. Häusliche Gewalt und Alkohol im Spiegel der Anrufe an «Die dargebotene Hand», Fachstelle für Alkohol- und andere Drogenprobleme, Lausanne, Newsletter; 2001;2.
  28. Melnick DM, Mario RF, Blow FC, Hill EM, Wang SC, Pomerantz R, et al. Prevalence of domestic violence and associated factors among women on a trauma service. J Trauma. 2002;53:33–7.
  29. Muelleman RL, Lenaghan PA, Pakieser LA. Battered woman: injury locations and types. Ann Emerg Med. 1996;28(5):486–92.
  30. Muelleman RL, Lanaghan PA, Pakieser LA. Nonbattering presentations to the ED of women in physically abusive relationships. Am J Emerg Med. 1998;16(2):128–31.
  31. Drossmann DA, Talley NJ, Leserman J, Olden KW, Barreiro MA. Sexual and physical abuse and gastrointestinal illness. Review and recommendations. Ann Intern Med. 1995;123(10):782–94.
  32. Campbell JC. Health consequences of intimate partner violence. Lancet. 2002;359(9314):1331–6.
  33. Ratner PA. The incidence of wife abuse and mental health status in abused wives in Edmonton Alberta. Can J of Pub Health. 1993;84(4):246–9.
  34. Gelles RJ, Straus MA. Intimate violence: the causes and consequences of abuse in the American family. New York: Simon & Schuster; 1988.
  35. Houskamp BM, Joy D. The assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder in battered women. J Interpersl Violence. 1991;6(3):367–75.
  36. Vogt I. Prämissen einer frauenspezifischen Suchtarbeit. Ergebnisse aus der Forschung. Frauen-Sucht-Gesellschaft, Fachtagung, Katholische Akademie, Trier. 1999.
  37. Mark H. Häusliche Gewalt gegen Frauen. Tectum Verlag Marburg, 2001. ISBN 3-8288-8262-5
  38. Feldhaus KM, Koziol-McLain J, Amsbury HL, Norton IM, Lowenstein SR, Abbott JT. Accuracy of 3 brief screening questions for detecting partner violence in the emergency department. JAMA. 1997;277(17):1357–61.
  39. Nyberg E, Hartman P, Stieglitz R-D, Riecher-Rössler A. Screening Partnergewalt. Ein deutschsprachiges Screeninginstrument für häusliche Gewalt gegen Frauen. Screening domestic violence. A German-language screening instrument for domestic violence against women. Fortschr Neurol Psychiat. 2008;76:28–36.
  40. www.figo.org/about/guidelines
  41. www.who.int/gender/news/who_statement/en/print.html