June-July:

Gender Gerrymander: Screening for IPV

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued a draft recommendation that women, but not men be routinely screened for intimate partner violence in healthcare settings. See draft recommendation here.  But men are just as likely as women to be victims of domestic violence. If this draft recommendation is approved, health insurance companies will be unlikely to pay for domestic violence screening of males, and abused men will have to fend for themselves.

• View the draft USPSTF report
• Research: A Closer Look at Men Who Sustain Intimate Terrorism by Women
• See the July 9, 2012 letter here.

An article that appeared in the August 15, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, “there is insufficient evidence that [partner violence screening] has beneficial health outcomes.” The USPSTF later decided to approve the draft recommendations which excluded male victims.