FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct 11, 2011
CONTACT Marsha Robertson
415.678.5617

'Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day' Still Going Strong In Its 13th Year

Regional Events Encourage Health Care Providers to Assess Patients for Domestic Violence

Hospitals, clinics, medical students and educators around the nation are holding activities this week and throughout October to encourage health care providers to routinely assess patients for domestic violence. A tradition first organized by Futures Without Violence (formerly the Family Violence Prevention Fund) in 1999, the 13th annual Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day is a nationally recognized awareness-raising day that takes place on the second Wednesday of October each year.

“We’re very pleased that this day has become a tradition in hospitals and health care centers throughout the country,” said Futures Without Violence Founder and President Esta Soler. “It has been clear to us from the start that health care providers are on the front lines with victims of abuse,” she adds. “We want medical professionals to have all the training and support that they need to evaluate patients who may be at risk for domestic, dating or sexual violence.”

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that, on average in this country, four to five women are murdered each day by their husbands or boyfriends. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that women in the United States experience two million injuries from domestic violence each year and nearly one in four women reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend sometime in her life.

Among the many Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day activities set for this week during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month are:

 

 

California:

  • STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Stanford Medical Center's 7th annual national "Health Cares about Domestic Violence Day" will be held Wednesday, October 12, 2011.

Florida:

  • WOMEN IN DISTRESS OF BROWARD COUNTY, INC.: This nationally recognized awareness-raising day aims to reach members of the health care community; to educate them about the critical importance of screening for domestic violence and about the long-term health implications of domestic violence. Literature and presentations about domestic violence and Women in Distress will be available to Broward County's Health Care Community.

Georgia:

  • GEORGIA COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Augusta - "Paint the Town Purple" - SafeHomes of Augusta invites the community to wear purple for the day in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If your school, company, church, family or friends participate, please send SafeHomes your pictures to be posted on our Facebook page. Email your images to meghann@safehomesdv.org.

Illinois:

New York:

Texas:

  • WOMEN'S PROTECTIVE SERVICES OF LUBBOCK, INC.: Dr. Travis Stork, co-host of daytime syndicated talk show THE DOCTORS, joined Women's Protective Services of Lubbock, Inc. (WPS) for Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day in Lubbock on October 11, 2011.

Virginia:

  • OFFICE ON WOMEN, CITY OF ALEXANDRIA, VA: The Alexandria Office on Women Domestic Violence Program and Inova Alexandria Hospital commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month at the 7th Annual "Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day" on October 13, 2011, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Atrium at Inova Alexandria Hospital, 4320 Seminary Road. Hospital personnel and visitors learn what they can do to detect domestic violence and how to respond and assist victims.

West Virginia:

There are many ways that you can provide leadership in your community on HCADV Day. Download your Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day Organizing Packet today.

For more than a decade, the National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence has supported health care practitioners, administrators and systems, domestic violence experts, survivors, and policy makers as they improve health care's response to domestic violence. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Center supports leaders in the field through groundbreaking model professional, education and response programs, cutting-edge advocacy and sophisticated technical assistance. Free materials, including national consensus guidelines and model protocols for responding to domestic violence, are available online: www.futureswithoutviolence.org/hcadvd

Futures Without Violence, formerly Family Violence Prevention Fund
For more than 30 years, Futures Without Violence has led the way and set the pace
for innovative educational programs, public action campaigns, policy development and leadership training designed to end violence against women, children and families around the world.Instrumental in developing the landmark Violence Against Women Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1994, www.futureswithoutviolence.orgFutures Without Violence has established an International Conference Center that will engage today’s diverse national and global leaders, stand with survivors, and continue working to break the silence around gender-based violence. Learn more at

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