I 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1578 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 15, 2011 Ms. Slaughter (for herself, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Moore, Ms. Norton, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Hanabusa, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Holden, and Ms. DeLauro) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the health care system’s assessment and response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Purpose. Title I—Coordinated Public Health Initiative to End Violence Against Women Sec. 101. Grants to foster public health responses to intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Sec. 102. Training and education of health professionals. Title II—Research on effective public health approaches to end violence against women Sec. 201. Research on effective interventions to end domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking against women in the health care setting.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)Domestic violence and sexual violence are public health problems and among the most significant social determinants of health for women and girls. (2)Nearly one in four women in the United States reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend at some point in her life, and one in six women reported experiencing a completed sexual assault. (3)Violence and abuse can affect health in many ways from physical injuries sustained during violent episodes, trauma symptoms including depression and thoughts of suicide, and harmful health coping behaviors such as alcohol and substance abuse. (4)Research published in the Journal of Women’s Health in 2007 found that women who are victims of violence have 17 percent more primary care doctor visits, 14 percent more specialist visits, and 27 percent more prescription refills than non-abused women. (5)Women who have experienced violence and abuse are 80 percent more likely to have a stroke, 70 percent more likely to have heart disease, and 60 percent more likely to have asthma than non-abused women. (6)In addition to utilizing the health system at higher rates, victims are more likely to experience a wide range of reproductive health problems including unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted disease/HIV transmission, miscarriages, and more. Abuse increases the likelihood of teen pregnancy; adolescent girls in abusive relationships are 3.5 times more likely to become pregnant than their non-abused peers. (7)The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have also linked childhood exposure to violence with long-term, chronic health conditions including obesity, arthritis, stroke, and heart disease. (8)The CDC conservatively estimates that intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking costs the health system and employers $8.3 billion annually from direct injuries and services and lost productivity from work. (9)Most professional health organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, endorse routine assessment for domestic violence. (10)The health system provides an important entry point to reduce violence and abuse and can improve the health status of women, but without training and support on how to assess and respond, providers are not routinely assessing and responding to abuse, missing an important opportunity to help victims and prevent more serious abuse.

3.

Purpose

It is the purpose of this Act to develop a public health response to abuse by— (1)strengthening the health care system’s assessment of and response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; (2)increasing the number of victims identified and assisted in health or public health settings; and (3)expanding research on effective interventions in health settings.