even the very slight possibility of a domestic violence victim's family bringing a lawsuit for wrongful death against the hospital for not reporting and getting the police involved would be enough for ALL hospitals to participate in such a program. Granted the victims of domestic violence are adults and make their own decisions, but as a former victim of domestic violence I can state categorically that at the time I was not making good or rational decisions for myself. My family cared about me enough to interfere even when I wasn't really receptive to them.

It takes time, sometimes quite a lot of time, to come to terms with what has happened to you as a victim of domestic violence. You just can't bring yourself to believe that you DIDN'T do SOMETHING to deserve the treatment you have received at the hands of someone who says they love you.

Death is does not have to be the ultimate outcome of domestic violence, but for that to be true, other people have to be willing to get involved. As long as people take the attitude that a victim wouldn't go back to an abuser if they really wanted to be free, nothing will change. Victims of domestic violence sometimes have LOST the ability to just walk away. Call it Stockholm Syndrome or come up with a new name for it, but it exists. It's hard to walk away from a relationship you have worked so hard to make good, even though you know deep down that you can never be good enough, or loving enough to satisfy your abuser...because they don't want you to be, they have to be able to justify the way they treat you, they have to be able to make it your fault so they don't have to admit that the flaw lies within them.

When authority figures, even so minor as an ER doctor or nurse send you back, instead of trying to get you real help beyond just fixing you up physically, then that sends a message...and its not a good one. No hospital that suspects that someone is a victim of domestic violence should just "treat and street" a victim, sometimes the victim just needs a little bit of support to make a good decision to walk away and to bring charges. That can be as small as keeping them for one night and calling in the social workers or police.

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"You can't fix stupid..." ~ Ron White"
"I never said I wasn't a brat..." ~ Talidapali

Thanks, Beth, for reporting on this.

And thanks, talidapali, for sharing your story, too.