Partner violence prevalence among women attending a Maori health provider clinic.
OBJECTIVE
To determine partner violence rates among women attending a general practice in Aotearoa, New Zealand.


METHODS
This descriptive study was conducted in a hauora (Maori health provider general practice clinic) in one South Auckland community. Non-acute, English-speaking women who entered the huaora during 30 randomly selected clinic sessions in a five-week period in 2003 were eligible to participate. Research assistants (RAs) verbally administered a structured, brief questionnaire that included a partner violence screen (past 12 months), assessment of high danger risk, and lifetime prevalence. Of 148 women approached, 109 participated. Participants generally self-identified as Maori (74%) or New Zealand European (18%) and ranged in age from 17 to 82 years (mean 38.8).


RESULTS
Twenty-three per cent (95% CI 15-31) of women screened positive for partner violence. Among the 25 women who screened positive, six (24%) had one or more high danger risk factors and 24 (96%) reported one or more children living in the household. Seventy-eight per cent (95% CI 70-86) of women reported a history of partner violence.


CONCLUSIONS
In this sample of mostly Maori women, direct partner violence questioning in a general practice setting yielded a high disclosure rate. Three out of four women disclosed violence by a partner; nearly one out of four disclosed violence by a partner in the past year.


CONCLUSIONS
Healthcare providers have the opportunity to identify and provide services to women and their children experiencing partner violence. Health care providers and the health care system also have a responsibility to join with the community in calling for non-tolerance of family violence.
Koziol-McLain
Jane
J
Interdisciplinary Trauma Research Unit, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. jane.koziol-mclain@aut.ac.nz
Rameka
Maria
M
Giddings
Lynne
L
Fyfe
Elaine
E
Gardiner
Julie
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014932:Women's Health Services