Domestic Violence in Pregnancy (Content last reviewed: 15th March 2020)

Chapter 2 - Domestic Violence in Pregnancy (Content last reviewed: 15th March 2020)

from Section 1 - Prepregnancy Problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 November 2017

Joanna R. Cook ,

Loraine J. Bacchus and

Edited by

Bernard Gonik and

David James: Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
Philip Steer: Affiliation:
Imperial College London
Carl Weiner: Affiliation:
University of Kansas
Bernard Gonik: Affiliation:
Wayne State University, Detroit
Stephen Robson: Affiliation:
University of Newcastle

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Summary

There has been a growing awareness of the importance of domestic violence as a significant public health issue since the late 1990s, although women have been controlled and assaulted by their partners throughout history. Obstetricians, gynecologists, and midwives have a key role in identifying women who are experiencing domestic violence, documenting the abuse, and ensuring that appropriate advice, support, and interventions can be accessed. Domestic violence is one part of a spectrum of human rights abuses against women and girls that includes rape and sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, “honor killings,” female genital mutilation, trafficking of children and women for prostitution, and systematic rape as a tool of war. Gender-based violence is predominantly inflicted by men upon women and girls; it reflects and reinforces inequalities between men and women and adversely affects the health, dignity, safety, and autonomy of survivors.

Type: Chapter
Information: High-Risk Pregnancy
Management Options
, pp. 34 - 44

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108349185 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

First published in: 2017

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Chapter 2 - Domestic Violence in Pregnancy (Content last reviewed: 15th March 2020)

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