When Congress passed the Deborah Sampson Act of 2020 (named after the woman who served in the Revolutionary War as a man), the goal was to expand access to government-provided health care for women veterans.
Now, one of the key provisions of that bill would create a new report on intimate partner violence among veterans and make recommendations for Veterans Affairs clinicians and policymakers. The authors convened a multidisciplinary virtual committee of more than a dozen advocates and experts representing patients, front-line medical staff, researchers, and government decision-makers.
If we want to learn and move forward, our approach must be evidence-based. The Veterans Administration understands this and asked us to synthesize the current knowledge about intimate partner violence and veteran health. ”
Dr. Suzanne Hempel, first and corresponding author, Professor of Clinical Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and Director, Southern California Center for Evidence Review
A team of scientists has compiled a research brief for the panel, consisting of an accessible report that combines the results of over 100 studies. Many were systematic reviews, which themselves compiled data from up to hundreds of peer-reviewed publications.
Based on the data provided, panelists recommended widespread screening for people who have experienced or are at risk of using intimate partner violence, as well as education and training for medical staff to recognize and respond to signs that someone may be at risk. The committee also published conclusions about potential risk factors and interventions for intimate partner violence among veterans.
“Policymakers are bombarded with proposals every day, but have limited resources to implement solutions,” said senior author Elizabeth Yano, Ph.D., director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy Research at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and adjunct professor of medicine and public health at UCLA. “They need to know what matters most and what has the greatest potential to make a difference. This report combines the best of what we know with input from leading experts to help them focus on what matters.”
Recommendations in the report published in the journal women’s health issueshas already been distributed to key VA leaders.
More than physical violence
There is no universally accepted definition that covers all aspects of intimate partner violence. However, the committee agreed that it is important for clinicians and the veterans they serve to understand that the term encompasses more than physical and sexual assault. They recommended that examples of other harmful behaviors, such as stalking, be included in the definition.
“How we define intimate partner violence has a lot of influence on how it is perceived and treated,” Hempel said. “What people may not know is that there are a lot of very difficult and cruel psychological tactics that can make people feel insecure.”
Although experiencing and exploiting intimate partner violence is more common among veterans than the general population, the committee noted that differences in sampling strategies between studies and lack of data on key subgroups make it difficult to derive conclusive statistics.
The report also lists risk factors for intimate partner violence unique to veterans, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), high suicide rates, and long-term separation due to deployment.
Current VA interventions indicate sound
Veterans currently receive treatment for intimate partner violence through the Veterans Administration’s National IPV Assistance Program. Its core principles put people first and put veterans’ perspectives at the center of our work. The program’s interventions recognize and address the different types of trauma experienced by veterans while promoting recovery.
The Committee unanimously agreed that these principles are essential to the success of programs in the service of veterans.
“There was a lot of support for the work that’s already been done,” Hempel said. “Our report shows that the programs VA established long ago are still effective and working with exactly the right approach.”
Recommendations to improve VA screening for intimate partner violence
The committee’s recommendations for both clinical practice and policy focus on patient screening and staff training and education.
The fact that reports of intimate partner violence can surface through all parts of the VA health care system was a factor at the forefront of the panelists’ minds. This led to the recommendation of a “no-fault door” policy to ensure that every clinical touchpoint leads to assistance.
“It’s often exposed as a completely random caregiving episode that has nothing to do with intimate partner violence,” Hempel said. “We’ve heard many examples, such as exposure in physical therapy sessions or blood draws. We can’t just wait for someone to come to mental health and talk about intimate partner violence.”
The Committee emphasized the need to train all health care workers in conducting screening and called on policy makers to help ensure that health care providers have the staffing and tools to do so.
“We can only do further testing for the experience of intimate partner violence or the use of violence if we have resources in place to give people concrete ideas about what to do,” Hempel said.
Veterans face severe challenges with high rates of firearm ownership and high risk of suicide. The committee therefore recommended that people who report suicidality, PTSD, substance abuse, or sleep disorders have a safety plan, along with screening for intimate partner violence.
“We cannot take this issue lightly,” Hempel said. “The patient may be in real danger.”
About the report
Other co-authors are Aneesa Motala of USC; Adriana Rodriguez of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System; Katherine Iverson of Boston University and VA Boston Healthcare System;
This report received funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (C03-6C26224P2174), the VA Women’s Health Research Network (SDR 10-012), and VA Health Systems Research (RCS 05-195).
sauce:
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Reference magazines:
Hempel, S. others. (2026). Veterans-related intimate partner violence: Results of a multidisciplinary evidence-based panel process. women’s health issues. DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2026.05.007. https://www.whijournal.com/article/S1049-3867(26)00078-2/fulltext
