NCJ Number
184577
Date Published
August 1999
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Donna Shalala, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, discusses what her agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Justice Department, is doing to address violence against women in the Nation; two other speakers discuss the public health issues involved in countering domestic violence.
Abstract
Federal initiatives in this area have focused on three main areas: prevention and early intervention, service provision, and changing social norms and attitudes. In the areas of prevention and early intervention, the challenge is to ensure that efforts are firmly rooted in the communities in which the victims live. New Federal grant awards for Community Awareness and Domestic Violence Prevention Projects are being made to local organizations and to advocacy groups, so as to help local networks that can best respond to domestic violence in their communities. The grants focus on improving the health care response to domestic violence. Grants have focused on programs that serve a diverse population including Native Americans and Hispanics. In an effort to improve service provision, the focus is on health care for mother and child, employment, counseling, substance abuse treatment, child care and support, and housing and legal assistance. Efforts to change social norms that fuel domestic violence have focused on children. A National Summit on Children Exposed to Violence is part of a broader initiative to help focus public attention on the problem and learn how to help all family members who are suffering from domestic abuse. Other panel members focus on the role of health care providers in detecting domestic abuse and providing health care services to victims, as well as the importance of influencing and molding societal and cultural influences that promote traditions of peace and justice.