The sexual assault caused by intimate partners is one of the highest ranking public health challenges in America. Many victims of intimate partner violence suffer both physical harm and other forms of ailments. The likely mental problems include anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and low self-esteem. Other challenges that arise from these kinds of violence include drug and substance abuse, gastrointestinal disorders, gynecological difficulties, and sexually transmitted diseases (Black et al., 2011) . This paper will give a summary of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey report, the impacts of the violence to the population, and its effects on the victim. Further, the methods and strategies that have been employed to prevent and treat the victims will be given . Finally, the essay will provide a summary of the findings on the topic of intimate partner violence and its implications for prevention and recommendations.
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey ( NIPSVS) in 2010
Over the years, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been in the frontlines of understanding these kinds of violence. The NIPSVS was conducted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and the Department of Defense. The aim was to establish how these impacts affect the American citizens. In this pursuit, the survey sought to determine the prevalence and characteristics of intimate partner violence, the people who are vulnerable to it, the form and effects of the violence that are experienced by particular perpetrators, and its impacts on the health of an individual. The Survey used the Random Digit Dial (RDD). Random Digit Dial refers to telephone surveys that gather information about the experiences that people go through including sexual violence, stalking, and violence from an intimate partner (Black et al., 2011) .
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Violence by an Intimate Partner
Sexual violence , physical assault, mental aggression, stalking, and violent threats are some of the ills that are likely to be perpetrated by a new or a former intimate partner. Intimate partner violence can happen whether the partners are cohabitating or not. According to several past studies, there is a consensus that a gap still exists in the quest of understanding intimate partner violence. Many studies focus on either sexual violence or physical assault. Moreover, others aim at understanding intimate partners’ violence in the context of public ills. Other research work is based on a smaller sample of colleges and schools or individual homes. The NIPSVS incorporates widespread habit related questions that allow for capturing of various forms of violence caused by intimate partners such as physical, sexual, and psychological violence (Black et al., 2011) .
According to the report, the number of individuals succumbing to intimate partner violence is increasing. More than 42.4 million people suffer from intimate partner violence. These people confess that they have either encountered rape, or stalking, or physical assault from an intimate partner. In every three women, one has experienced physical violence from their partner . Likewise, out of every ten women, three have suffered abuse at the hands of their partners. Regarding the men, one out of four men has encountered physical abuse , rape, or stalking from an intimate partner at a particular stage of their lives. However, most men reported only about physical assault. T he survey also established that in every ten men, one had experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking (Black et al., 2011) .
Amongst the group of women that experienced violence from an intimate partner, about sixty-four percent of them experienced it once. Out of this number, 57% went through physical violence only, while another 4.6% faced rape (Black, et al., 2011) . More than half the victims of intimate partner violence succumb to psychological aggression. Further, almost 10.3 million women had complained that their intimate partners forced them to get pregnant at a time when they did not want to. Another fifty percent of the victims were aged between eighteen and twenty-four years when they first become victims of intimate partner violence (Black et al., 2011) . Many of these acts are perpetrated by current intimate partners . However, for the majority, the history of intimate partner violence is known to start during the teenage years, between eleven to seventeen years.
Studies have confirmed that the impact of intimate partner violence increased in both severity and frequency. However, it was difficult for the survey to clearly represent how severity varied across considering that it incorporated both first-time victims and people who were victims of intimate partner relationship multiple times. Research has proved that the victims of intimate partner violence are hospitalized more than the average Americans. Some of the common health outcomes include physical health injuries, harmful use of drugs and other dangerous substances, and unhealthy response to biological stresses.
The people with a history of intimate partner violence showed severe and dangerous physical and mental health problems. The most observed ailments were chronic pains, headaches, diabetes, difficulties in sleeping, asthma, and bowel irritation syndrome. These impacts were evident in both men and women. Families, communities, and organizations can promote healthy relationships among both young and older people to reduce and check the prevalence of these impacts. The survivors of these violent acts should also be supported with good health care systems. Additionally, there need for the society to interrogate beliefs and attitudes that support and condone intimate partner violence. In conclusion, the NIPSVS was not only vital in helping the American populace to understand the extent of the vice, but also for the concerned stakeholders to take action towards addressing it.
References
Black, M. C., Basile, K. C., Breiding, M. J., Smith, S. G., Walters, M. L., Merrick, M. T. , & Stevens, M. R. (2011). National intimate partner and sexual violence survey. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 75 .
