Health Impacts of Violent Victimization on Women and their Children

2012 This report is a work product, and the findings presented herein are not to be construed as an official Department of Justice Canada position, unless they are designated as such by other authorized documents and the report is posted on the official Department of Justice Canada Web site. ii Executive Summary There is growing evidence of the strong links between violence against women and children and significant physical and mental health impairment, and risky health behaviours. These are prevalent among children, youth and adults victimized during childhood and/or adulthood. Certain groups, for example Canada's Aboriginal women, are at increased risk of more, and more severe, violence, and potentially more significant health impacts. While physical injuries and death form an important subset of the health impacts of violence, the more prevalent consequences are longer-term mental health problems, which in turn contribute to health risks as well as increasing the likelihood of being a violent offender or being re-victimized at a later point in time. As well, newer research points to the longer term chronic diseases associated with violent victimization. Key findings from the report specific to health impacts of violent victimization are: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and its impact on women & children's health • Physical health problems associated with IPV exposure include chronic pain, disability, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disorders and general reductions in physical functioning/health-related life quality. Recent analyses indicate that IPV may be associated with cardiac disease. • In terms of women's reproductive health, IPV is associated with gynaecological disorders, infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, pregnancy complications/miscarriage, sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, unsafe abortion, and unwanted pregnancy. • IPV during pregnancy is associated with femicide, and causing direct harm to the fetus, which can result in pre-term birth or injury and low birth weight. • Adverse outcomes that result from witnessing IPV in childhood include an increased risk of psychological, social, emotional and behavioral problems including mood and anxiety disorders, and drug abuse and school-related problems in children and adolescents. • IPV is consistently associated with high rates of depression, anxiety disorders (especially post-traumatic stress disorder-PTSD), protracted disabling sleep disorders, phobias and panic disorder, psychosomatic disorders, and suicidal behaviour and self-harm, eating disorders, substance dependence, antisocial personality disorders, and nonaffective psychosis. • For Aboriginal women with abuse histories, rates of these conditions, especially depression, may be higher, though Aboriginal women exposed to violence …