NCJ Number
115120
Date Published
1989
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This news release by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) reports on joint statements by U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and Dr. Luella Klein, past president of ACOG, regarding ACOG efforts to assist physicians in detecting and responding to wife abuse.
Abstract
All members of ACOG will receive information to help them detect when a patient may have been battered. The information will also help doctors explain women's legal rights to their patients, acquaint patients with services available to battered women, and explain strategies for helping women escape situations in which they or their children are being abused. Dr. Klein advises that doctors should pay particular attention to women with head, neck, chest, abdomen, breast, or arm injuries. She also notes doctors' important preventive role, since women are at risk of additional injury if the abuse cycle is not broken. The material being provided to doctors by the ACOG indicates the symptoms of abuse include headaches; insomnia; choking sensations; and stomach, chest, pelvic, and back pains. Victims may also manifest shyness, fear, embarrassment, evasiveness, anxiety, or passivity. The statements of Koop and Klein accompany the news release.