I guess it starts with being aware of just how prevalent this problem is and learning to ask the right questions. She agrees with Dr. Birken that it can be frustrating to want desperately to help, only to watch a woman return again and again to an abusive situation. She may rehearse it over and over in her mind, but until she actually takes action, it is only a plan. The public needs to have the same intolerance toward domestic violence and abuse that they have toward child abuse. People need to feel the same way about having someone who abuses his wife as a neighbor.
Education is needed on the part of victims, as well.
One of their ongoing education efforts is to provide special training to deputies who encounter domestic violence to help them be more sensitive to the needs of someone who has been abused, and to the impact the situation has on the entire family. Dr. Birken hopes that by keeping the issue in the spotlight, more and more people will view domestic violence as the insidious crime that it is and not only insist on tougher penalties for the abusers, but be more alert and helpful if they suspect that violence has touched a neighbor or a friend. He completed a Preceptorship in Urogynecology at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Birken is a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and was recertified in June 1995. He is the father of three sons, and has served as a Little League baseball coach and as team physician for a youth football league.