NY Rep.: Train docs to spot domestic abuse

WASHINGTON -- A New York House member has introduced a bill that would help train doctors and nurses to spot the signs of domestic abuse and offer better care and counsel to victims.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-Rochester) announced the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act on Thursday. The goal, according to Slaughter's spokeswoman Victoria Dillon, is to prevent domestic abuse before it happens.

Women often feel most comfortable talking about domestic violence with a doctor or nurse, rather than with friends or family, and Dillon said the legislation looks to build on that relationship.

"The health care system is uniquely positioned to take a leading role in fighting and responding to intimate partner violence," Slaughter said in a statement. "By training our future doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to recognize and help us prevent future domestic attacks, we will be able to save some of the $8.3 billion domestic violence costs our health care system each year. Most importantly we can save women from repeated attacks."

Dillon said Slaughter's bill is one of a number expected to be introduced in the effort to reauthorize the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, of which Slaughter was a co-author. The cost of implementing Slaughter's legislation has not been estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, Dillon said. -- MCT