4. Develop internal orders for health care providers to refer DV and sexual abuse victims to support centers.
Access to Medical Services Women victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse have serious health problems caused by violence. Those problems may be classified as follows: 1) General problems 2) Sexual and reproductive health problems 3) Mental health problems The consequences of domestic violence and sexual abuse may occur immediately after the act of violence, but they also may appear later. According to the World Health Organization, the more severe and ongoing the abuse, the greater its impact on women’s physical and mental health.43 The negative consequences can persist long after abuse has stopped. The women who are survivors of intimate partner physical violence and sexual abuse, experience an overall deterioration in health, chronic pain, dizziness and headaches, stomach pains, acute ischemic pain, etc.44 According to the experience of Women’s Support Center NGO, many women victims of violence have severe headaches due to inflicted 43 See Understanding and addressing violence against women, WHO, 2012, https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77431/WHO_RHR_12.43_eng. pdf;jsessionid=906FA05F5221C272C82C5322834A2840?sequence=1. 44 See Campbell J et al. Intimate partner violence and physical health consequences. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2002, 162(10):1157–63.
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