Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): CDC Grand Rounds: A Public

Health Approach to Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence

Vanessa Joseph
HPS 4500 Into to Epidemiology
Dr. Jasmine Ward
11/30.2104

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Intimate

Partner Violence (IPV) includes threats and/or acts of physical and sexual violence, as
well as mental/emotional abuse including stalking behaviors (Saltzman LE, Fanslow JL,
McMahon PM, Shelley GA, 2002). IPV is likely to occur between opposite and same-sex
intimate partners; additionally the definition of IPV does not change whether the
occurrence is a one time incident or multiple account of violent behavior. In the United
States, approximately 24 individuals are sufferers of rape, physical brutality or stalking
by an intimate significant other every 60 seconds (Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, et
al., 2011). In the year 2010, IPV accounted for 10% of the total of all homicides, which
amounted to 1,295 deaths for that year alone (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2011).
Females are more prone to experience injury from a violent partner than males.
Also 24.3% of female victims are likely to experience severe physical and sexual
violence from a significant other, and are twice as likely to be a victim of homicide
(Black MC, 2001). Consequently, women are not the only victims of IPV, it is reported
that 13.8% of males in the United States have experienced some form of physical
violence at some point in their lives (Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, et al., 2011).
IPV often takes place at a juvenile age and continues to become repetitive into adulthood.
The risk factors of IPV are extremely multifaceted however it is very frequent that the
result if IPV is due to a variety of personal, and societal influences (Heise L, GarciaMoreno C, 2002).

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses both the National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) and the National Violent Death
Reporting System (NVDRS) in order to collect data and conduct epidemiological
surveillance in order to aid in the prevention of IPV. The data collected from the NISVS
is used to distinguish priority population, and measure epidemiological data of nonfatal
incidences of IPV. The data from NVDRS is collected in order to display information
from numerous resources concerning violent deaths caused by IPV.
The CDC is avidly working to help youths acquire how to start healthy,
nonaggressive relationships in order reduce the incidence of adult IPV in the future. The
Dating Matters project is an initiative based program founded by the CDC in order to
encourage nourishing relationships and prevent IPV using a combination of various
strategies that involves adolescences, their relatives, and health educators (Teten Tharp A,
2011 & 2012). The Department of Health and Human Services National Health Resource
Center on Domestic Violence curated the initiative Futures Without Violence in efforts to
construct compromise throughout endorsed violence prevention methods among healthcare and public health specialists. This initiative has developed many improvements to
specialized training programs; modifications to health archives, and recording
procedures; policy enhancements, and leadership expansion and progress.
Even with all the successful efforts being put in place in order to stop the
prevalence of IPV, this public health problem is still an issue amongst the population. The
issue of IPV will solved if the emphasis is solely based on prevention of incidences
before it occurs versus responding to violent behaviors after it has already become an
ongoing pattern. In order for these efforts to be successful, it will require the involvement

of public health leaders, as well as parents, teachers, and professionals to educate the
community and youth of the importance of self-worth and building nourishing
relationships.

Works Cited
Saltzman LE, Fanslow JL, McMahon PM, Shelley GA. Intimate partner violence
surveillance: uniform definitions and recommended data elements, version 1.0. Atlanta,
GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2002. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/ipv_surveillance/intimate%20partner%20violence.pdf
Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, et al. The National Intimate Partner and
Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: US Department of
Health and Human Services, CDC; 2011. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/nisvs/2010_report.html.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, 2011: expanded
homicide data. Clarksburg, WV: US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Investigation; 2012. Available at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-theu.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/offenses-known-to-lawenforcement/expanded/expanded-homicide-data
Black MC. Intimate partner violence and adverse health consequences:
implications for clinicians. Am J Lifestyle Med 2011;5:42839.
Heise L, Garcia-Moreno C. Violence by intimate partners. In: Krug E, Dahlberg
LL, Mercy JA, Zwi AB, Lozano R, eds. World report on violence and health. Geneva,
Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002:87121. Available at
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en
Teten Tharp A. Dating Matters: the next generation of teen dating violence
prevention. Prev Sci 2012;13:398401.

Teten Tharp A, Burton T, Freire K, et al. Dating Matters: strategies to promote

healthy teen relationships. J Womens Health 2011;20:17615.

Article: Howard R. Spivak, MD, E. Lynn Jenkins, PhD, KristiVanAudenhove2,

Debbie Lee, Mim Kelly, PhD, John Iskander, MD. CDC Grand Rounds: A Public Health
Approach to Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence. 2014. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6302a4.htm?s_cid=mm6302a4_w