We are studying Domestic Violence and Woman’s Health this week.  I think these topics go very well together. We were instructed to take this course  and then take the test and hand that in.  We didn’t have to pay to get the CEU because as students we don’t need CEU’s but I went ahead and paid for the CEU because I can use it toward my Respiratory license for this biennium so this actually works well for me since I haven’t got any of my CEU’s yet for this biennium.

Some interesting things I’ve learned about Domestic Violence.:

Apparently the state of Florida likes to call it Intimate partner Violence (IPV)

IPV is disturbingly common among high school students. In the 2007 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, about 10% of students in grades 9 to 12 reported having been hurt physically by a boyfriend or girlfriend during the 12 months preceding the survey. Dating violence was more prevalent among African American students than among white or Hispanic students. In another study, nearly 12% of female students reported ever having been physically forced to have sex against their will.

research indicates that most abuse and neglect of elders occurs at home.

Older women in abusive situations are the least likely to report IPV, primarily due to social and cultural values. A woman brought up in pre-1960s America tends to see her role as obeying her husband without question, believing that “you don’t air your dirty laundry in public.”

In 2008, domestic violence offenses accounted for 89% of violent crimes in Florida. That year, the number of reported cases of domestic violence exceeded 113,000.  (can you imagine?)  

When IPV and persistent poverty intersect, they limit coping options. Both poverty and IPV lead to stress, feelings of powerlessness, and social isolation, which combine to produce posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and other emotional difficulties.

Such women face risks from the batterer and risks resulting from their poverty. Risks from the batterer include physical injury; threats and loss of security, housing, and income; and potential loss of their children. Risks from poverty include food insecurity, lack of access to health insurance and healthcare, possibly racism, unsafe neighborhoods, and poor schools for their children.

Sexual violence can also include reproductive coercion, such as deliberately exposing a partner to sexually transmitted infections (STIs); attempting to impregnate a partner against her will (bydamaging condoms or throwing away her birth control pills, also called birth control sabotage);threats or acts of violence if the partner does not comply with the perpetrator’s wishes concerning the decision to terminate or continue a pregnancy; as well as threats or acts of violence if the partner refuses to have sex (Family Violence Prevention Fund, 2008). In a recent study of women ages 16 to 29 years seeking care in family planning clinics, researchers found that more than half of these women reported IPV and 1 in 5 of them reported pregnancy.

We were assigned to listen to two actual 911 calls, only one of which worked but the one that did work was pretty powerful a kid called the police because his drunk stepfather was arguing with his mother and hitting her sister and doing dangerous stuff to the 3 week old.  Very disturbing to me. I can’t even imagine being in this situation.

So this week should prove to be interesting with these topics and the first day of two patients in clinical.  My discussion board topic is Cervical Cancer this week. It’s an individual so it’s not due until Thursday.