US guidelines for domestic violence screening spark debate

摘要

Women's groups in the USA have welcomed recommendations that obstetricians and gynaecologists routinely check for intimate partner violence (IPV) but worry that patients could be forced into the legal process in a handful of states with laws requiring mandatory reporting of domestic abuse by doctors.A committee opinion of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ACOG), published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, said periodic screening should include checks for physical and psychological abuse, reproductive coercion, and progressive isolation.