Response of the health care delivery system to battered women.

In this article I describe and analyze the response of the health care delivery system to battered women. Conceptual frameworks that explain the perpetration of battering and the obstacles to its identification by health professionals are examined. Clinical protocols aimed at changing staff's response to battered women are described. Recommendations are made for systems-level changes that are needed to alter the response of the health care delivery system to battered women.