Confronting Violence: Home page

Activists and reformers in the United States have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were battered.

Temperance and women’s rights advocates called attention to family violence and agitated for reform during the mid-19th century. Despite their efforts, society as a whole continued to ignore domestic violence.

Nurses were among the first to identify women who were battered as a population with specific health needs that were largely neglected by the medical community.

Nurses successfully began to change the medical profession as they advocated, educated, and organized nationally.

Nurses changed the way the medical profession identified and treated women who were battered. By the 1990s, all the major medical organizations recognized domestic violence as a significant health issue and urged their members to take action, reinforcing over a decade of advocacy by nurses and their allies.

Activists today continue to work tirelessly to support and empower victims of intimate partner violence. Individuals and organizations have developed innovative and creative approaches to sharing information and assisting in recovery...