Despite health disparities, legislation changes could empower brain injured domestic violence survivors to reach out for support, experts have argued.
One of the challenges when it comes to tackling brain injury caused by domestic violence is its prevalence due to a likely underreporting of incidents.
Luke Griggs, chief executive of Headway UK, says: “While many effects may be outwardly visible, others can be hidden and affect not only the individual, but also their families.
“Difficulties with memory, attention, fatigue, headaches, and information-processing are common, as are psychological effects such as depression and anxiety.
“These effects of brain injury can permeate into multiple domains of life, often having a negative impact on independence, relationships and employability and putting survivors at increased risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system.”
A report published by The Disabilities Trust found that of all the women who reported a brain injury which was traumatic in nature, 62 per cent had sustained it through domestic violence.
Additionally, the findings have shown 61 per cent of those with a brain injury caused by domestic violence reported having self-harmed, with 35 per cent of them not seeking treatment for their injury.
Katherine Price Snedaker, the executive director and founder of PINK Concussions who is pushing for a female-specific concussion management protocol for women athletes, says: “In lab research the reproductive cycles of female lab animals seemed to affect the results in brain injury studies so TBI research almost solely focused on male animals.
“Often women who went through domestic violence can’t remember details and they have difficulties with time management, but we rarely think of them as having brain injury.
“The medical community has looked at these women from a mental health standpoint without considering the physical injuries,” she continues.
“However, we are seeing a big change in younger generations, especially in the United States with Title IX – a prohibition against sex-based discrimination in education.
“These generations have grown up knowing that men and women have equal rights and they look at research and ask why weren’t women included?”
Griggs says that heightened awareness alongside new government initiatives mean that things could change.
“The ABI Strategy, which is currently being devised by the UK government, aims to identify and address the needs of all brain injury survivors and carers.
“This is a prime example of where the strategy can potentially make a significant difference by empowering domestic abuse victims to reach out for support – and ensure that provisions are made for that support to be readily available to all that need it.”
