4233.0: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - 2:45 PM

Abstract #8431

Risk factors for intimate femicide: Results from a cross-national case control study

Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN1, Carolyn Rebecca Block, PhD2, Doris Campbell, RN, PhD3, Mary Ann Curry, PhD4, Faye Gary, RN, PhD5, Judith McFarlane, PhD6, Carolyn Sachs, MD, MPH7, Phyllis Sharps, RN, PhD8, Daniel Webster, PhD9, Susan A Wilt, DrPH10, Yvonne Ulrich, RN, PhD11, Xiao Xu, RN, MSN1, Janet Schollenberger, MHS1, and Victoria A. Frye, MPH10. (1) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, 525 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-2778, jcampbel@son.jhmi.edu, (2) Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Chicago, IL 60606, (3) College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, (4) School of Nursing, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR 97201, (5) University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, (6) Texas Women's University, Houston, TX 77030, (7) School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90024, (8) School of Public Health and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, (9) School of Public Health and Hygiene, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, (10) Office of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, New York City Department of Health, New York, NY 10007, (11) School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

This paper reports results from a multi-site case-control study of risk factors for intimate partner femicide. Data on cases, completed and "attempted" femicides, and controls were collected in 11 cities. Friends and family members of femicide victims and women who had been the victim of an attempted femicide (shot, knifed or injured so they could have died) were interviewed; abused and non-abused controls were identified via random digit dialing in the same cities and completed the same interview. In this analysis, we compared attempted femicide cases with abused controls. Preliminary bivariate results indicate that attempted cases were significantly more likely to report having been stalked, forced to have sex, abused during pregnancy and threatened with death by an intimate in the year prior to the serious assault, than were abused controls. They were more likely report that their partner was drunk daily, used street drugs, was extremely jealous, and attempted or threatened suicide. Finally, attempted cases were more likely to report that there was a gun was in the household. Over half of all attempted victims had made contact with either the police, a hospital, MD or shelter. While intimate partner femicide risk prediction is in its infancy, this study illustrates that several factors differentiate women who are abused but not the victim of an attempted homicide by their intimates and women who were nearly killed by intimates. As risk assessment improves and evidence collects that intimate femicide victims interact with health care providers, the case for universal screening is strengthened.

Learning Objectives: 1) to identify factors that distinguish women who are killed by their intimate partners from women who are physically abused by intimates. 2) to describe the importance of various factors that act to confound or modify the risk of intimate femicide among women. 3) to consider the role medical professionals might play in identifying women at high risk of intimate femicide and the policy implications of these results on the current debate around universal screening

Keywords: Homicide, Women

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA