Nursing-Domestic Violence and Women
Running Head: DOMESTIC violence and women
It should not hurt to be a Woman:
The impact of domestic violence on health.
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Nursing 350
“Just tell the nurse you slipped and fell. It starts to sting as it starts to swell. She looks at you she wants the truth, it’s right outside in the waiting-room with those hands looking just as sweet as he can…” (Nickleback, 2002). It should not hurt to be a woman, and yet violence against women remains the “leading cause of death and disability among those aged 16 to 44-years of age” (UNICEF, 2000, p. 2). In the year 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO), declared violence against women to be “a universal health and human rights problem of epidemic proportions, with domestic violence recognized as the most common form, affecting at least one of every three women across the life-span” (p.89). Domestic violence is evident to some degree throughout every society in the world, even in those societies that enjoy relative peace and prosperity, many women are found living in a constant state of insecurity, shame, and secrecy. Many women believe they deserve to suffer the violence because of some wrong action on their part, while others refrain from speaking about such violence because they fear voice will bring further harm them in an act of vengeance for revealing family secrets, or they may be ashamed of their situation (WHO, 2002). Unfortunately, this too often concealment of violence against women makes it invisible to many, either literally because of its occurrence behind closed doors, or effectively, due to the many legal and cultural norms that treat violence against women as a simple family-concern or part of every day life rather than the crime it truly is. The result is a vast population of women vulnerable to many insecurities and fears, as well as specific risk factors that carry with them profound implications for
It should not hurt to be a Woman:
The impact of domestic violence on health.
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Nursing 350
“Just tell the nurse you slipped and fell. It starts to sting as it starts to swell. She looks at you she wants the truth, it’s right outside in the waiting-room with those hands looking just as sweet as he can…” (Nickleback, 2002). It should not hurt to be a woman, and yet violence against women remains the “leading cause of death and disability among those aged 16 to 44-years of age” (UNICEF, 2000, p. 2). In the year 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO), declared violence against women to be “a universal health and human rights problem of epidemic proportions, with domestic violence recognized as the most common form, affecting at least one of every three women across the life-span” (p.89). Domestic violence is evident to some degree throughout every society in the world, even in those societies that enjoy relative peace and prosperity, many women are found living in a constant state of insecurity, shame, and secrecy. Many women believe they deserve to suffer the violence because of some wrong action on their part, while others refrain from speaking about such violence because they fear voice will bring further harm them in an act of vengeance for revealing family secrets, or they may be ashamed of their situation (WHO, 2002). Unfortunately, this too often concealment of violence against women makes it invisible to many, either literally because of its occurrence behind closed doors, or effectively, due to the many legal and cultural norms that treat violence against women as a simple family-concern or part of every day life rather than the crime it truly is. The result is a vast population of women vulnerable to many insecurities and fears, as well as specific risk factors that carry with them profound implications for
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