Domestic Abuse Linked to Poor Health, Years Later
I didn't want to read the news story about Amy Castillo, the Maryland mother whose estranged husband drowned their three young children in a hotel room last Saturday. I didn't want to read that the family court judge refused to deny the father unsupervised visitation because Castillo continued to have sex with him after he talked about killing the children just to hurt her.
I can only surmise what this poor woman would have done had she known that he would most certainly carry out his threats. Shooting him in cold blood would have been an understandable option. (I say this as a mother of three kids.)
No one wants to read these stories, and no one wants to talk about them beyond expressing pity for this now childless mother. Amy Castillo said she shared her fears and no one listened to her. But even she may not have realized that what her husband was doing was a form of psychological abuse. And all women who live under a threat from a loved one, even when it doesn't erupt into violence, need to start having these conversations with their friends and family, not only to protect themselves but also to educate judges and doctors who all too frequently miss the signs in their female patients. A World Health Organization study published in today's Lancet found that women currently being abused were more likely to have memory loss, difficulty walking, dizziness, and vaginal discharge. Even those who hadn't experienced violence over the past year were more likely to be in poorer health overall, which the researchers write "suggests that the effect of violence might last long after the actual violence has ended."
Yet many doctors fail to connect the dots between partner abuse—including threats of violence—and unexplained health problems like chronic headaches, insomnia, painful sex, and gastrointestinal complaints, according to Janice Asher, a domestic violence expert and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "All too frequently, women will get CT scans, MRIs, and other tests that go nowhere when doctors don't take the time to ask if they're in an unsafe relationship," she laments. While abuse itself can obviously cause injuries, psychologists have found that the pain often lingers after the body heals due to "memories" stored in nerve cells. This could explain why a woman might suddenly develop pelvic pain after entering a new relationship when her last boyfriend forced her to have a type of sex she didn't want.
With 2 million American women abused by their partners every year, doctors are doing a huge disservice when they don't screen for domestic violence—especially, Asher adds, since most women won't talk about abuse unless they're asked. (And even then, many won't discuss it until they've established a trusting relationship with their doctor.)
"I'm so glad you're covering this!" she tells me. I told her that I heard a great presentation she gave two years ago on screening for domestic violence. What struck me at the time was how few doctors at the gynecology conference were in attendance to hear her remarks. "Yes," she sighs, "doctors tell me they're too pressed for time to ask about abuse." So, women may have to take it upon themselves to speak up about prior abuse if they're experiencing unexplained pain or other symptoms.
The first priority for a woman in danger, of course, is to get away from the source. Unfortunately, as Amy Castillo learned, the system doesn't always make that possible. Organizations like the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence can at least help put many abused women on the right track to safety.
Tags: women's health | domestic abuse
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (9) | Print
Reader Comments
Addendum
Since women are much more likely to kill their children than men, I often find it amusing how silent women like you are when that happens. Deborah Kotz goes trangely silent when this happens.
http://fathersforlife.org/articles/report/resptojw.htm
http://crime.about.com/od/female_offenders/a/mother_killers.htm
http://www.aaanet.org/press/motherskillingchildren.htm
Get real, Deborah.
Lots Of Links, But No Supporting Data
Lots of strong accusations here, but no empirical data. Such is common amongst women activists. Repeat these lies enough until they become your truth. I'm not saying that you're lying here, but I am strongly suggesting that there is no data to back up this TOTALBS.
If you're interested, I could quote many such instances of this since VAWA's inception.
John Lukas
http://wadvpress.org
if this was mortgage crisis the government would be stepping in
it is hard to believe that this still goes on, our families and those issues of family law including divorce domestic violence and child custody should be handled by a social service and they should treat these family crisis like a disease, not a by a judge in a court room. we should reserve our courts for criminal and business matters not family decisions. most judges a re not even close to being able to sift through the truth. since one half of the marriages a re in divorce a t any given time in this country for decades now, you would think our government would address it like they did the mortgage crisis and the most recent insurance bail out for aig. But nothing is done to protect families and women and children. my husband broke my leg and we are living in destitution right now, no electricity, no home anymore. i dont know what i ma going to do. the state of Pennsylvania would get me spousal support but because he filed for divorce in hawaii, i wont get anything hawaii refuses to do the right thing. i have permanent nerve damage not just in myleg but in my emotions i can no longer handle too much going on around me and i avoid public places since this happened. i have taken my girls out of school because the fear that i know have of this world and how horrible it is to be in a country that refuses to protect you and stop the violence men use against women. men are animals and our lawmakers arent any better. i think there are so many women abused we dont even know the half of it. it is not a safe world for our daughters while men go unchecked and un-socialized in this county. this is why sticking to universal values like no pre marital sex and building relationships in a respectable way before marriage is essential to helping women have better partners during a relationship. we need early childhood education in our schools about how to treat women and how to treat each other in relationships, we need to build the respect in men towards women from the time they enter school until they graduate. my teen age daughter is not going to public school because a classmate told her if he ever got anyone pregnant he would throw them down the stairs, (obviously he is interested in having sex before marriage and commitment, see how the problem starts)i just want to keep my daughter away from the sickness in our public venues like school. she did not need to hear that she already knows that men do that my first husband did that t o me and i suffer from a fused tailbone to my hip from it as i age it gets more painful. men anymore seem to have a focus that is driven by satisfying their penis, its sick and so many men, almost all men in this country have one thing on their minds, their penis it is the most important thing to have that satisfied. as an attractive woman i cant tell you how i am harassed for sex even with married men. gross.
advertisement
