Domestic Abuse On The Rise In Massachusetts

Continuing an administration-wide commitment to combating domestic violence, Governor Deval Patrick today directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to issue a Public Health Advisory on domestic violence.Health Sexual In addition, he highlighted two public safety initiatives underway to help address domestic violence: strengthening training around domestic violence and sex crime for police officers at all levels and reviewing data from domestic violence homicides in the last three years to assemble a trend analysis.

Public health advisories are tools reserved for communicating urgent information to the public on critical health issues facing the community. Such advisories define the scope of the problem and provide important information on prevention and treatment. (See attached advisory). DPH will expand its effort to work with community-based domestic violence agencies to train every health care provider across Massachusetts to incorporate domestic violence screenings into their current practices.

"Today's announcements reflect the Patrick Administration's commitment to addressing the epidemic of domestic violence," said Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby. "No single state agency can meet the needs of all victims and children. We need community engagement to prevent and address domestic and sexual violence. Coordination is crucial to assuring that our policies and resources are most effective in preventing harm to individuals, families, and communities."