![]() ![]() In addition, one in five women and one in 71 men have experienced rape at some point in their lives - 12% of these women and 30% of these men were younger than 10 years old when they were raped. One in four women has experienced domestic violence. They report that one in four children experiences some sort of maltreatment (physical, sexual, or emotional abuse). The CDC statistics on abuse and violence in the United States are sobering. All potentially identifying details have been changed to protect patient privacy. *This vignette is based on a composite of several cases I have been involved with over the years. I could only imagine what had been happening. Months later, we learned that the children had been removed from the home by the Department of Children and Families, for parental abuse. One of the senior doctors finally conceded: Let them go, we’ll have to work on this. The young girl screamed, the boy fought, no one could calm them, and everyone was annoyed. The brother then ran over and stood in front of her, his arm outstretched, guarding, and yelled “Get away! Leave her alone! ” At first, the focus was on forcing them to have their shots, which were required for school. But just as the nurse was about to deliver the injection, the young girl jerked her arm away and ran to the opposite corner of the room, crying. She and the nurse worked together to hold the sister’s arm down. ![]() “You’ll do what the doctor tells you, is that clear?” ordered the mother. Neither wanted any shots, and they were both quite upset. Many years ago, when I was a trainee, I helped take care of patients at a family medicine clinic.* One day, a school-aged brother and sister came in for their annual physicals. Important principles of trauma-informed care - including ways to ask permission, offer control, and find support - described in her article and in Monique Tello’s post below can make a real difference to many women and health care professionals alike. ![]() Writing in the OctoNew England Journal of Medicine, Eve Rittenberg, MD, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and practicing physician at Brigham and Women’s Fish Center for Women’s Health, reflects on the impact the Kavanaugh hearing and #MeToo movement have had on patients who have experienced sexual violence. ![]()
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