Detecting Partner Violence in Fertility Clinics
This podcast episode focuses on this original article.
Study Background
Hypothesis: infertility specialists commonly encounter IPV yet are not well equipped to identify abuse and offer appropriate resources and referrals because of a lack of knowledge and awareness as well as stigmatizing perceptions regarding IPV victims.
WHY
Infertility may be a risk factor for IPV
lack of knowledge of role of infertility specialists in identifying and caring for victims of IPV
WHO
medical directors at US fertility clinics
up to 6 clinics were contacted per state, selected from semi-randomized list of reproductive endocrinology practices
WHEN
4 months during the spring–summer of 2020
HOW
47-item survey questionnaire
validated survey, developed by the Violence Against Women Health Research Collaborative
added nine questions uniquely applicable to infertility care
Letters mailed with instructions to type survey link into SurveyMonkey
Followed-up letter with two electronic reminders
Results
46% response rate (95/200 responses)
More in podcast!
Resources - Domestic Violence
Futures without Violence, www.futureswithoutviolence.org
National Domestic Violence Hotline www.thehotline.org or 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
National Network to End Domestic Violence, www.nnedv.org, a national organization of state domestic violence coalitions.
Resources - Research
Barishansky SJ, Shapiro P, Meyman G, Pavone ME, Lawson AK. Reproductive endocrinologists' knowledge and attitudes in the identification of intimate partner violence [published online ahead of print, 2021 Sep 16]. Fertil Steril. 2021;S0015-0282(21)01934-8. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.08.011
Cheng D, Horon IL. Intimate-partner homicide among pregnant and postpartum women. Obstet Gynecol. 2010;115(6):1181-1186. doi:10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181de0194
Sharifi F, Jamali J, Larki M, and Roudsari RL. “Domestic Violence Against Infertile Women : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal [SQUMJ], vol. 1, no. 1, June 2021, doi:10.18295/squmj.5.2021.075.
Smith SG, Zhang X, Basile KC, Merrick MT, Wang J, Kresnow M, Chen J. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf