Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives, now on display in the library, shines light on the nurses’ movement to raise awareness in the medical profession about domestic violence.

Activists and reformers in the United States have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were battered. During the late 20th century, nurses took up the call. With passion and persistence, they worked to reform a medical profession that largely dismissed or completely failed to acknowledge violence against women as a serious health issue. Beginning in the late 1970s, nurses were in the vanguard as they pushed the larger medical community to identify victims, adequately respond to their needs, and work towards the prevention of domestic violence. This is their story.

Portrayed in six banners, this exhibition tells the poignant story of the nurses’ campaign for change in the medical profession. The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition with support from the Office of Research on Women’s Health. Learn more about this exhibition at the National Library of Medicine website. The exhibition will be on display until October 7th.

Questions for the library? Contact Kate Bright at 656-0695.