Summary

Despite the fact that intimate partner abuse, child abuse, and elder abuse have captured the attention of the public, social science researchers, health care professionals, and policymakers worldwide, domestic violence continues to be a prevalent problem that brings suffering to millions and enormous costs to all societies. Mahoney and colleagues (2001), for example, argue:

Even after 25 years of research and advocacy, intimate violence against women remains at epidemic proportions, affecting women of all age groups and all walks of life; from preteen girls to elder women, and women of all races, cultures, sexual orientations, and physical abilities. (p. 143)

Despite the fact that intimate partner abuse, child abuse, and elder abuse have captured the attention of the public, social science researchers, health care professionals, and policymakers worldwide, domestic violence continues to be a prevalent problem that brings suffering to millions and enormous costs to all societies.

Nurses and other health care professionals have responded to the problem of domestic violence by engaging in increasingly sophisticated research, designing prevention and intervention programs, and advocating for social change. While we celebrate the strides made in tackling the problem of domestic violence, we must ask why, despite such concerted efforts to address the problem, domestic violence remains a "plague in our land" (American Academy of Nursing, 1995).

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