"Why Doctors Should Start Screening Men To Spot Potential Abusers"

Article here. Excerpt:

'There’s been a lot of conversation about domestic violence lately, thanks to theongoing controversy over the way the NFL has responded to a surveillance tape of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee in the head. Public figures ranging from thenewly crowned Miss America to the president of the United States have weighed in about the fact that violence against women is never acceptable.
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An increasing number of medical groups— including the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which helps determine what services are covered under the health reform law — now recommend that doctors should screen all of their female patients for evidence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Since domestic violence leads to both short-term and long-term health problems, medical professionals are uniquely positioned to be able to spot the signs. The federal guidelines specifically apply to women of childbearing age, since they’re most at risk for becoming victims of domestic abuse.

But what if doctors shifted the focus and also started looking for potential abusers? Although very little work has been done in that field so far, the men who engage in IPV are regularly coming into contact with medical professionals, according to a new study examining the characteristics of abusers. It may be possible to teach doctors about the warning signs that suggest a male patient could be abusing his partner.
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Doctors start referring their patients to batterers’ intervention programs, which focus on reforming men’s behavior and holding them accountable for abuse. Experts in the field have pointed out that batterers’ intervention programs currently serve a very small portion of the male population, since they typically only see the men who are mandated by court to complete a program. Referrals from the health care sector could help widen that scope.'