More women seek medical treatment for injuries resulting from domestic violence than for any other cause, according to a US expert.
Dr Evan Stark told a conference on violence against women, organised by Women's Aid in Dublin Castle yesterday, that the injuries for which women seek medical attention include bruising, fractures, attempted strangulation, sexual assault and threatened or actual miscarriage.
She also pointed out that while non-battered adults may make one visit to a hospital emergency unit in their lifetime, battered women average more than one visit a year.
She urged health professionals to be alert, and to make a complete diagnosis not just of the symptoms of the injury, but of the cause, and make onward referral.
Dr Claudia Garcia-Moreno, of the department of gender and women's health at the World Health Organisation, told the conference that the prevalence of violence against women varied widely according to the country and culture of those involved.
For example, the rates of reported incidents of violence against women over the past 12 months varied from 3 per cent in Australia, Canada and the US through 23 per cent in Santiago, to 48 per cent in the West Bank and Gaza.
She said the UN definition of violence against women included rape, prostitution, abduction and intimidation at work or in education as well as intimate partner violence. The latter included psychological and sexual attacks as well as physical assault.
More than one form of violence was common where violence was present in a relationship, and violent husbands in all cultures were more controlling than non-violent ones.
She said that such violence had serious health consequences for women, both physical and mental. More than half of all battered women had received at least one injury requiring medical attention, and one in five had received five or more such injuries.
Domestic violence was more common in families with four or more children, suggesting that unplanned pregnancy was another result of the violence.
Worldwide studies showed that a refusal of sex was one of the most commonly-used justifications for wife-beating. Women who were beaten also suffered more gynaecological problems and sexually-transmitted diseases.
Their children also suffered from a wide range of health problems, ranging from low birth weight to a greater risk of infant mortality.