Beyond urban places: responding to intimate partner violence in rural and remote areas

Intimate partner violence is a recognized public health problem impacting the lives of women, families, and communities. Women in rural and more remote areas who experience IPV face unique barriers and challenges to accessing healthcare services to support healthy outcomes. Resources, access to services, presence of compassionate and informed healthcare providers, and environmental circumstances influence effective responses to this issue in rural and more remote areas. In a public health approach to this problem, prevention efforts, victim-centered responses, and the support of safety are imperative to improve outcomes for women. Forensic nurses play an important role in effective response by building linkages across health, human, and social systems through collaboration, partnership, activism, advocacy, and sensitivity to the issue across the rural landscape.