NCJ Number
87922
Date Published
Unknown
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Minnesota's mandatory collection system has provided information on women battered by their partners that has been used to substantiate the need for services to battered women and publicize these programs.
Abstract
Under Minnesota law, all hospitals, physicians, public health nurses, law enforcement agencies, social workers, and community health workers must report assaults on women from male relatives or partners. Shelters housing battered women and their children also contribute to the information system initiated by the Department of Corrections in 1978. The 4,542 incidents reports submitted in 1979 do not reflect the true extent of the problem because of underreporting by large agencies and the tendency of persons assaulted by their partners not to seek help. The Department estimates that 31,000 assaults on women were reported to public agencies and medical personnel, based on the assumption that only 1 in 7 was reported to the Department. The 1979 data indicated that partner abuse occurred in every region of the State and that 69 percent of the women had been assaulted previously, usually by the same man. About three-quarters of the women were younger than 34, and 62.6 percent had been assaulted by husbands or ex-boyfriends. A summary of 1,292 medical reports revealed that the abused person required medical attention 86 percent of the time and hospitalization in 9 percent of the cases. Services needed most frequently by battered women were support groups, safe housing, legal assistance, and economic support. Minnesota's shelters had to turn away 70 percent of their applicants because of lack of space. The Department also received 42 reports on battered men from human service providers in 1979.