Intervention efforts are virtually impossible without special services for victims of abuse, such as housing, financial support, and counseling. Yet few countries have adequate services. How Providers Can Help Health care providers can play a critical role in helping survivors of domestic violence. They can learn to ask questions about domestic violence in a sensitive, nonjudgmental manner. They can help clients develop awareness by providing general information about abuse and its signs.
Providers can document signs of abuse in the client's medical record.
Having medical records that reflect the injuries a survivor sustained can be essential in the legal process. Finally, providers can refer clients to local resources or help establish such resources, if they do not exist. Domestic violence is an entrenched and complex problem. Efforts to end it must occur on several fronts. Reproductive health care staff have a role to play.