Violence Against Women
ANA Position Statement
Effective: September 6, 1991
Revised: March 24, 2000
Statement of ANA Position
The American Nurses Association (ANA) supports education of nurses, health care providers and women in skills necessary for prevention of violence against women; assessment of women in health care institutions and community settings; and research on violence against women. ANA believes there is a critical need for attention to and increased awareness of the problems of violence against women by all health care providers in order to reduce immediate and long term physical and psychological injuries that are associated with this crime. Through know ledge and clinical skills, nurses can engage in the assessment, intervention and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence. Further, ANA supports a coordinated, interdisciplinary community-based focus using Healthy People 2010 objectives and other research that promote surveillance, prevention and intervention for violent behavior as priority issues for the nation.
Domestic violence against women is defined as “A pattern of coercive behaviors that may include repeated battering and injury, psychological abuse, sexual assault, progressive social isolation, deprivation and intimidation. These behaviors are perpetrated by someone who is or was involved in an intimate relationship with the victim” (The Family Violence Prevention Fund, 1999).
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