Intimate Partner Violence Task Force

The mission of the ACS Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Task Force is to raise awareness of the incidence of IPV in the surgical community, educate surgeons to recognize the signs and consequences of IPV in themselves and their colleagues, provide resources for survivors, including prevention and escape strategies, and create resources and curricula in partnership with other national professional and educational organizations to instruct about how to recognize IPV in colleagues and trainees.

The following core values inform the mission of the task force:

• Respect and compassion for ourselves and our colleagues.
• Inclusion of all members of the surgical community through years of training and practice, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, socioeconomic status, training level, culture, religion, race, or ethnicity.
• Support and understanding of individuals who are presented with life choices and challenges without clear solutions, including supporting those who remain in difficult situations.

The task force has established the following goals and objectives to guide their efforts:

• Raise awareness about IPV in the surgical profession.
• Develop strategies to support surgeons affected by IPV and assist with referrals to IPV support resources.
• Establish educational programs for the surgical profession on how to identify and support survivors of IPV.
• Develop an IPV survivor toolkit for use by surgical societies and surgical training programs.

Intimate Partner Violence Task Force Roster

Activities

The Intimate Partner Violence Task Force Works on the following initiatives:

• Partner with other surgical associations for a media campaign for Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month in October.
• Host an annual webinar to help provide resources and discuss aspects of intimate partner violence.
• Create, develop, and edit statements and resources to support surgeons who may be going through IPV
• Curate and share resources related to IPV that surgeons have access to. See the curated list of IPV resources.

Contact

If you have any questions or comments, contact the Task Force Staff Liaison, Jessie Romanz name, at jromanz@facs.org.