The role of the battered woman specialist.

1. Nurses must recognize that every battered woman is a crime victim. Battered women also are frequently sexually assaulted and raped by their abusive boyfriends or husbands. All states have criminal sexual assault statutes; approximately 40 states have marital rape statutes. 2. Consistent within the clinical knowledge base for domestic violence survivors are the following concepts that the battered woman needs to hear from the nurse: her history of abuse is believed, she is not crazy, no one deserves to beaten, she is not alone, domestic violence is a crime, there is hope the cycle of violence can be broken, and there are specific places where she can go for help. 3. Few nurses have received any formal training in the principles of clinical forensics and clinical forensic nursing. Many nurses have had to go outside of nursing to learn forensic skills. However, as more nurses enter clinical forensic nursing roles, the necessity of formal education becomes increasingly important.