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| Violence against Women as a Health Issue |
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Women's Aid has developed a four-day training course to address the training needs of hospital and health care personnel (doctors, nurses, medical social workers). The aim of the course is to upskill participants to enable them to act as a resource within their own agencies. Women's Aid runs two courses annually. The Importance of Training for Health Professionals There is growing a recognition that health care providers are among the most frequently accessed by women who are being abused. Making the Links indicates that following a friend or relative, the person to whom a woman experiencing abuse is most likely to disclose the abuse is her GP. Research data from the US indicates that between 22% and 35% of all females presenting to accident and emergency departments are suffering from abuse related issues (Stark and Flitcraft 1996). Despite the evidence that large numbers of abused women are coming into contact with health professionals the problem often fails to be identified by practitioners. There are many barriers that exist to prevent women accessing the support they need, but practitioners too can be reluctant to encourage disclosure of abuse for a variety of reasons including their own feelings of powerlessness, lack of awareness about the issue, or a belief that the woman may have provoked the abuse. Training can provide professionals with the confidence to intervene in a way that will be supportive of the woman and not undermine her safety. Training on the issue of domestic violence needs to occur in tandem with the development of policies and procedures within individual agencies regarding how staff should respond to a woman experiencing abuse. |