Violence against women is endemic in the United States. One third
to one half of all women will experience one or more types of abuse in
their lifetime, most often at the hands of a family member or an
intimate or formerly intimate partner. One in 12 women is battered
during pregnancy. Abuse survivors are disproportionately frequent
users of health care services because of acute and chronic physical,
somatic, emotional, and behavioral sequelae of abuse. Health care
practitioners are often the first contact abuse survivors have with a
potentially helping professional. It is, therefore, essential that
health care providers learn to identify and to intervene appropriately
with survivors of abuse. This article reviews and compares the health
effects of three of the most common types of violence against women:
childhood sexual abuse, domestic battering, and rape. Sequelae are
divided into six categories: physical/medical, somatic, emotional/
psychological, social/interpersonal, behavioral/sexual, and
pregnancy-related effects. The health effects discussed in this
article include research findings, as well as effects noted in
clinical practice. Recommendations are made for routine screening of
all women for past and current abuse, as well as for intervention
strategies.