J Korean Acad Womens Health Nurs.  1996 Mar;2(1):92-107.

The Study on Woman's Health Problem in the View of Battering, Sexual Violence and Divorce

• Choi ES
• Koh MS
• Lee KE
• Kil SY

Abstract

This paper reviews battering, sexual violence and divorce experienced among women. There three problems have negative influence on health status in women and are further developed to social problems such as family dissolution. The victims of the problems may manifest physical injury, emotional difficulties and social withdrawl, while their children may show problems caused by lack of parental caring and by resembling abusive behaviors of their parents. Hence, nurses need to pay attention to batting, sexual violence, and divorce and to develop relevant nursing interventions for them. Some strategies of dealing with those problems are presented in the following. First, we have to eliminate sexism prevailing in out society. Our society is assigning inequal and asymmetrical gender role. Mass media should inspire equality between genders and show a healthy model of family and community. Second, social system and laws should be changed through collective efforts. Those living conditions of women cannot be changed by the effort of women themselves only. We all need to work for establishing and changing the law, so that those women in suffering can obtain immediate and adequate protection. Third, social support system of consulting and referring women's problems should be established. Such support system as hot line, shelter and counseling clinics would help women in crisis. Fourth, job training and arrangement should be available to women who are divorced. Fifth, there should be self-help group for those women in suffering. Self-help group would help those women in sharing their problems and feelings and in establishing coping strategies. Nurses, as the largest group among health professionals, are sensitive and respond to health needs of clients and have an effect on managing women's health. However, we nurses have not been ready for dealing with problems of women, although most of us are women. we not need to change our perspective of women's health problems from a traditional medical perspective to feministic one. Accordingly, nurses need to develop realistic way of caring those women in suffering and to assist them in making decisions for their lives by themselves.

MeSH Terms

Child
Counseling
Divorce*
Female
Gender Identity
Health Occupations
Humans
Jurisprudence
Mass Media
Nursing
Parents
Self-Help Groups
Sex Offenses*
Sexism
Social Conditions
Social Problems
Women's Health*