Vice President Joe Biden called domestic violence a "public health epidemic" that requires urgent attention in an address Friday to an audience of the country's preeminent medical, public health and domestic violence experts.
"All of you in this room who are doctors, nurses, researchers, social workers from all across the country, the fact that we are talking today about domestic violence as a public health epidemic is because of you," he said. "We have come such a long way in our fight against this epidemic, but we have to keep making the case even stronger for prevention and intervention."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly one-third of U.S. women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Domestic violence is associated with an array of health problems. In the short-term, physical violence can result in serious injuries or even death. At least one-third of all female homicide victims in the U.S. are killed by male intimate partners. But studies have found that domestic violence has long-term health consequences as well.
[For more of this story, written by Melissa Jeltsen, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...demic_n_6911820.html]
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