Femicide, the homicide of women, is one of the leading causes of death in the United States for African American women aged 15 - 34 years and the leading cause of premature death for women overall in this country. Intimate partner homicide is the single largest category of femicides, with women being most often killed by a husband, lover, ex-husband or ex-lover. This overview and summary paper reports the findings from 380 women who were victims and perpetrators of femicide or near femicide. The mean age for the sample was 34 years (victims) and 36 years (perpetrators). Sixty-nine percent of the women reported prior abuse. Overall, 42% of the victims used a health care agency, with the emergency department being the most ommonly used service. Of the women who had been pregnant during the relationship,33%were beaten by intimate partners. In the year prior to the incident 11% (35) of the victims reported alcohol problems and among the women with alcohol problems 28% (8) sought treatment. In the sample 17% (56) of the women had drug problems and 20% (9) had sought help. Perpetrators had contact with physicians (54%) and mental health professionals (20%). Perpetrators who reported alcohol and drug problems also reported contact with alcohol (15%) and drug treatment programs (13%). Victims and perpetrators had frequent contacts with helping agencies in the year in which the fatal or near fatal injury occurred and these represent opportunities for the prevention of femicide by healthcare providers.
Learning Objectives: See Session Objectives
Keywords: Access to Health Care, Domestic Violence
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.