Doctors and nurses are frequently struggling to provide sensitive responses to women victims of domestic violence in very difficult circumstances, Ms Monica O'Connor told the conference. They have to do so in work environments that are under-resourced, understaffed and chaotic.
Ms O'Connor is a researcher who has worked with various State agencies over the past 15 years on women's health issues.
She said that the woman seeking a solution to a problem of domestic violence "faces the daunting challenge of navigating her way through multiple agencies, crisis accommodation, support and advocacy services, money, welfare and maintenance, to try and survive.
"The failure of even one of these systems to deliver can result in the woman going back to a violent man and giving up."
She said recent research showed that 70 per cent of the most severe physical and sexual assaults happened after the woman left the abuser. Figures also showed that 50 per cent of murdered women were killed by their partners, and half of these occurred either after she left or when she was leaving.
Ms Joan Zorza, a US lawyer specialising in domestic violence, said health professionals should carefully document all incidents, including precise measurements and photographs where possible.
This meant if a woman returned to hospital with new injuries anyone treating her would see the history. It also meant that if she wished to go to court, evidence was available.
She said that 10 per cent of all deaths in the US were from strangulation, which was a common form of domestic violence. She described the symptoms of attempted strangulation and advocated the documentation of the woman's feelings as well as her physical symptoms.