Health Topic: Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence
This screening helps to determine, evaluate, and lower the occurrence of family violence, abuse, and neglect in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. In the United States, 30% of women experience domestic violence at some time in their lives. AI/AN women experience domestic violence at the same rate or higher than the national average. A survey of Navajo women getting routine care at an IHS facility reported that 14% had experienced physical abuse in the past year. In this same group of Navajo women, 42% reported having experienced physical abuse from a male partner at least once in their lives. The consequences of intimate partner violence to the health of a woman are numerous.

Who should be screened?
Women between the ages of 15-40.

What is the GPRA measure?
The GPRA measure is the percentage of IHS AI/AN female patients ages 15 to 40 that have been screened for domestic and intimate partner violence during the year.

How is IHS doing?
IHS has not established a long-term goal for this measure. The IHS 2012 goal was to achieve the rate of 55.3% for the proportion of female patients ages 15-40 who receive screening for domestic violence. IHS exceeded the goal by reaching 61.5%. The bars on the graph below show that IHS has increased the rate from 4% in 2004 to 61.5% in 2012. However, beginning in 2010 refusals was removed from the rates. So, the 2004-2009 rates cannot be compared with the 2010-2012 rates.

View a table of this chart's data.

To see how IHS is doing on this measure at the Area (regional) levels, click here.