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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Susan B. Sorenson, PhD, Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 C.E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310-825-8749, sorenson@ucla.edu

Objective: The purpose of this presentation is to provide a succinct summary of current knowledge about firearms use in fatal and nonfatal intimate partner violence. This information will help conference participants understand the implications of the research findings presented in the rest of the panel. Method: A thorough literature review was undertaken and additional data about firearms use in intimate partner violence were analyzed. In addition, information about laws designed to keep firearms out of the hands of batterers were reviewed. Results: About 3500 of every 100,000 U.S. women have been threatened with a gun and 700 of 100,000 have had a gun used against them by an intimate partner. As in other types of homicide, a firearm is the weapon of choice in intimate partner homicide. From 1976 through 2002, a woman was 2.2 times as likely to be shot and killed by her male intimate than killed in any other way by a stranger. Handguns accounted for most of these deaths. Persons under a domestic violence restraining order and those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence are prohibited from purchasing and possessing a firearm. Nonetheless, the most recent data available indicate that as homicides of women by strangers have decreased, the number of homicides by intimates with handguns has increased. Implications: Firearms and intimate partners present a particular risk to women's health and safety. Policies designed to prevent the homicide of women that focus on male intimates and firearms are supported by the available data.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• identify the role of firearms in nonfatal and fatal intimate partner violence.
• describe general epidemiological patterns of risk associated with firearms use in intimate partner violence.
• describe policy interventions designed to keep firearms out of the hands of batterers.

Keywords: Battered Women, Firearms

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation