With a membership of more than 40,000 physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is dedicated to the advancement of women's health through education, advocacy, practice, and research. It is a private, nonprofit organization.

ACOG works in four primary areas:

1. Serving as a strong advocate for quality health care for women
      
2. Maintaining high standards of clinical practice and continuing education for its members 
     
3. Promoting patient education and stimulating patient understanding of, and involvement in, medical care 
     
4. Increasing awareness among its members and the public of the changing issues facing women's health care

In fulfilling its purpose, ACOG

• Develops and sponsors continuing medical education programs 
• Creates guidelines to evaluate and improve medical practice
• Promotes access to the latest research through its publications and clinical gathering
• Supports programs for improved graduate medical education in obstetrics and gynecology

For more information on ACOG activities relating to violence against women, contact

Deborah L. Horan 
Manager, Special Issues 
Division of Women's Health Issues 
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 
Phone-(202) 863-2487 
Fax (202) 484-3917 
E-mail: violence@acog.org 
Web site: www.acog.org*

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), located in Atlanta, Georgia, is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC mission is to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability.

In 1994, the Division of Reproductive Health and the Division of Violence Prevention formed a CDC Working Group on Violence and Reproductive Health. The working group has studied direct and indirect links between violence against women and women's reproductive health. The group also has emphasized the enormous potential for reproductive health care services to provide a vital point of contact at which women can be screened for violence and referred to appropriate intervention services.

In June 1999, the CDC Working Group, together with CDC staff from the Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention and the Office of Women's Health, organized the National Conference on Violence and Reproductive Health: Science, Prevention, and Action. A primary focus of the conference was on ways to increase the involvement of clinical reproductive health care services in screening and referring women affected by violence.

Information about CDC activities related to violence against women can be obtained from

the Division of Reproductive Health 
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 
(770) 488-5259 
www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/DRH/
and 
the Division of Violence Prevention 
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 
(770) 488-4362 
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/dvp.htm

Date last reviewed: 03/21/2006
Content source: Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion