Inner-city women face increase in violence

University researchers have found that violence is the leading cause of injury among inner-city minority women, according to Seanna Walter, spokesperson for the University Medical Center. The investigation, conducted by the Philadelphia Injury Prevention Program, was led by Medicine Professor Jeane Ann Grisso. "Homicide rates are nearly four times higher among African American women than among white women," Grisso said. "However, we really don't know a lot about the extent of violence and what trends it may follow." According to Grisso, her team implemented a surveillance system, looking at data obtained from 11 area hospital emergency rooms. They also compiled information collected from Philadelphia vital statistics and death certificate data. The study spanned the years 1987 to 1990, documenting the incidence of fatal and non-fatal injuries resulting from violence against minority women in inner-city Philadelphia. But Grisso said the findings are still relevant, because the situation does not seem to have improved in recent years. "We're doing a study of pregnant [inner-city] women at [the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania] right now and, when asked, 20 percent said they had had some sort of violence inflicted against them," she said. Of the approximately 30,000 women residing in the studied community, more than half had sustained one or more injuries during the period, according to Grisso. And by 1989, violence surpassed falling as the leading cause of injury, jumping ahead by 55 percent. She added that 96 percent of these injuries were sustained by African American women. From a total of 15,090 injuries sustained by 11,654 women, 3,039 injuries resulted from assaults without the reported use of a weapon, Grisso said. "As for other violent injuries, there were 313 stabbings, 71 gun-related injuries and 35 reported rapes," she said. Of the information gathered, an overwhelming 60 percent of reported assailants were husbands and boyfriends, according to Grisso. "In fact, only 16 percent of the injuries were actually committed by strangers," she added. "The rest were other relations." Grisso also noted that injury rates differed according to age, with young women ranking the highest. "The health community has been primarily concerned with violence against children and the elderly," Grisso explained. "Now, however, we need to realize that work is desperately needed to elucidate the nature of violence against [young African American women]." Grisso said she feels the high levels of homicide are clearly associated with the socio-economic status of the community in the area. "During this four-year period, the country was on a huge decline in economic health of inner cities," Grisso said. Grisso recommended a number of solutions -- both short and long-term -- to combat the problem. "What we need is a multi-disciplinary effort to deal with the issue," she said. "We need to involve police, health care workers, courts, community leaders and hospitals and set up some sort of support system for these women." Grisso also said she feels that attitudes of traditional society toward women need to be altered. "We need to culturally shift attitudes to make a lasting difference," she said. "We need to empower women in impoverished communities and help them to look for more in life than romantic relationships and children."