Description/Overview: Violence against women is a global epidemic with estimates of one in three women worldwide experienceing partner violence at least once in her lifetime. Not only are women affected but also the viability of her offspring if the woman is pregnant and children in the household who witness the abuse. Although the prevalence of partner violence has been tracked in many countries, evidence based interventions to interrupt abuse of women and prevent further abuse are lacking. Two models of care dominate for abused women worldwide: safe shelters and use of justice services. To test these two global models of care, 300 English and Spanish speaking women who access safe shelter or the justice system for the first time are being followed for seven years along with one of their children. Metrics of re-abuse, risk for murder, maternal mental health, marginalization, prevalence of chronic disease, such as cancer, and use of community resources are being tracked for the woman and development and functioning for the randomly chosen child. At the end of the first 2 years of the study, 97% of the women remain in the study. To measure the intergenerational impact of maternal abuse on the functioning of the child, structural equation modeling was used along with repeated measure and correlation analysis. Evidence based interventions for abused women and their children are presented in this symposium along with strategies for presenting the data to policy makers.

Learner Objective #1: Analyze and apply new evidence regarding violence against women to nursing clinical practice and policy decisions.

Learner Objective #2: Synthesize and articulate new evidence regarding violence against women to policy makers and the media.