New Materials Target the Workplace

Julie was an ICU nurse at a major medical center when she met her now ex-husband, a neurosurgeon. At first, the relationship seemed charmed. Soon, though, he became violent. Before long, the abuse began to affect Julie on the job. She was anxious and exhausted, showing physical signs of battery -- and yet her co-workers looked the other way. Finally, unable to handle the stress any longer, Julie quit her job.

"Julie's employer lost a valuable employee by not having concrete policies and programs to support her," says Family Violence Prevention Fund Workplace Manager Donna Norton. To help improve the way workplaces respond to domestic violence, the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) has created new materials for use by employers, unions and advocates.

Julie's story is one example depicted in a new video for employers. Funded by Office for Victims of Crime of the U. S. Department of Justice, the video features domestic violence survivors discussing the impact their abuse had on the job, and shows what employers can do to help.

A training kit for employers is also available. Funded by The Hitachi Foundation and Blue Shield of California, it can be used with the video or separately. Domestic Violence: A Workplace Issue contains components for different audiences, including business leaders, managers and line staff. "The curriculum makes it easy for advocates to help employers take steps to improve their response to domestic violence," says Norton, "and it gives employers easy information about domestic violence and ideas about how to form collaborations with victim advocates."

The materials were first distributed at the FVPF's national conference of its Corporate Citizenship Initiative (CCI) held in September. Posters developed and donated by Verizon Wireless were also unveiled at the conference (see graphics). Fourteen state leadership teams attended the CCI conference, representing business, government, labor and victim advocate leadership -- all working to improve their states' workplace response to domestic violence. At the conference, state leadership teams shared information and learned about resources, legislation, best practices, business outreach strategies, and more. They will use the conference learnings, along with the new materials, to create collaborative workplace domestic violence prevention initiatives in their states. The materials are also available to the public.

To order the employer workplace and video, call the FVPF's publication line at (415) 252-8089 or order online at www.fvpf.org. Materials for unions are being developed as well, and will be available in early 2001.

The Next Frontier:
Engaging More Men in Efforts to Stop Domestic Violence

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

By Esta Soler

Imagine a world in which men routinely sent positive messages about the need to end domestic violence. Fathers taught their sons never to threaten or harm the women they date. Little League and professional coaches warned their players not to make derogatory comments about women. Parents taught their daughters to recognize signs of abuse. Men were full participants in efforts to stop domestic violence.

Most of us who work to end domestic violence and help its victims can only imagine that world. Domestic violence is still perceived primarily as a women's issue. Women speak out most often on the issue. More women than men tell pollsters that they are concerned about domestic violence. Women are more likely to donate money to efforts to stop abuse. Women form the vast majority of domestic violence agency employees, volunteers and advisors. Right now, relatively few men are engaged in efforts to stop abuse.

Those of us in this movement can take some responsibility for that, since most of our outreach has targeted women. It's time for a change. In the last several years, we've made tremendous progress on this issue. Domestic violence went from being a private matter to a public issue. Today, most Americans recognize that abuse affects the workplace, crime rates, health care delivery, child welfare services, and nearly every aspect of our society.

Our next challenge is to involve more men in efforts to change public attitudes and set healthier social norms. We will be more successful if we identify and activate the men who can help us send the message that domestic violence is always wrong. Activating men is the next important frontier in our work.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund will help lead this mobilization. In partnership with The Advertising Council, we launched the highly successful There's No Excuse for Domestic Violence campaign six years ago. It has now generated more than $100 million in donated media support, and with other awareness efforts has mobilized tens of thousands of Americans to help stop abuse.

In the next year, we will put the same energy, resources and savvy into a new campaign designed to activate men. Our next major public education campaign will encourage men to speak out on domestic violence and get involved in other ways.

We are fortunate to have support from the Waitt Family Foundation and to be joined by an advisory committee comprised of an esteemed and committed group of men and women from business, sports, journalism, and other fields, as well as experts who work directly with batterers.

We will be asking religious leaders, entertainers, and men from every walk of life to join us in this work. Country music star Andy Griggs is one of several prominent men who are already helping to lead the way. Griggs recently recorded a song about domestic violence, and powerful public service announcements about domestic violence which RCA Records has distributed to country music stations nationwide.

In the end, we cannot change society unless we put more men at the table, amplify men's voices in the debate, enlist men to help change social norms on the issue, and convince men to teach their children that domestic violence is always wrong. As we encourage more men to take responsibility for ending our nation's epidemic of domestic violence, we will be even more successful in our work.

POOR PERFORMANCE:
Few States Make the Grade on Domestic Violence and Health

Most states have a long way to go to improve their health care response to domestic violence, according to a study released in August by the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF). The State-by-State Report Card on Health Care Laws and Domestic Violence assesses each state's progress in passing laws in five critical areas -- training, screening, protocols, reporting and insurance. Most states received poor grades.

Just one state -- Pennsylvania -- received a grade of "A." California, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and Washington received grades of "B." The majority of states received grades of "C" or "D," and Colorado received a failing grade.

"The results of this Report Card are disappointing," said FVPF Executive Director Esta Soler. "States can adopt laws that will dramatically improve the health care response to domestic violence, prevent insurers from discriminating against battered women, and save women's lives. But most states are not doing so. Every day that a doctor fails to screen a battered patient for domestic violence -- or a nurse fails to record information that can help a victim win a restraining order -- is another potentially life-saving opportunity lost."

"State lawmakers are failing battered women," said FVPF Associate Director for Health Debbie Lee. "Almost every woman visits a health care provider for routine or emergency care at some point in her life. That puts doctors and nurses in a strong position to screen for domestic violence, and help victims escape abuse. But they need training to do so effectively, information to provide appropriate referrals, and policies that encourage them to intervene. It is shameful that the grades are so poor. This Report Card gives states a mandate to improve their records, and a blueprint to follow on the road to reform."

States were given points in five categories, based on criteria developed by leading domestic violence and health experts. According to the Report Card, positive laws that serve to improve the health care response to domestic violence include:

• Strong training on domestic violence that lays the foundation to help health care professionals treat domestic violence victims effectively, and get them the help they need.
  
  
• Protocol laws that require all health care systems to develop written policies on screening for family violence, recording patient injuries, making referrals to community agencies, and related issues.
  
  
• Screening laws that help health care providers ask all patients about family violence. Screening and protocol laws will open the door to safe and confidential discussions between patients and their health care providers.
  
  
• Insurance laws that forbid insurers from discriminating because someone is a victim of domestic violence.
  
  
• Reporting laws that require health care professionals to report an incident of domestic violence to law enforcement only when there is life-threatening injury and/or gunshot wounds. States could receive negative points in this category if they have passed legislation that requires health care providers to report all cases of domestic violence, with or without patient consent. (Victims of domestic violence can be endangered or discouraged from seeking health care if police are alerted and take action.)

California, Colorado and Kentucky lost points because they have adopted mandatory reporting laws that endanger battered women. "These laws may have been well-intentioned," Lee adds, "but they are coercive and dangerous."

The FVPF sent questionnaires to every state and examined state statutes to determine what each state has done to improve its response to domestic violence in the health care settings. The FVPF also contacted advocates, state leaders and others about what laws have been enacted regarding domestic violence and health care.

The State-by-State Report Card on Health Care Laws and Domestic Violence was produced with generous support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. The publication has been sent to governors and selected legislators in every state; advocates around the country are pressing lawmakers for reform.

For more information on the Report Card, visit http://www.fvpf.org/statereport/.

Guns and Domestic Violence:
A Deadly Combination

Jan's husband told her that if she left him and sought custody of their two children, it would be "the worst day of her life." He was right. When she finally escaped after years of abuse and went to pick up her children, her husband was waiting, with a gun. "I felt certain he was going to kill me," Jan recalls. "He abducted me at gunpoint, dragged me into the woods by the hair, beat me, and had a gun at my head for an hour." When he momentarily loosened his grip, Jan broke free and ran, but got just a few feet away when a bullet crashed through her, piercing her back and exiting through her ribcage, missing her spinal cord by a quarter inch. She held her breath and closed her eyes while her husband checked to make sure she was dead. He then shot and killed himself.

Gun violence prevention advocates speak out at the Million Mom March.

Jan escaped with her life that day. Many victims of domestic violence are not so lucky: nearly one-third of all women murdered in the U. S. in 1997 were slain by a current or former intimate partner. Guns were used in almost two-thirds of these domestic homicides. One study in Atlanta found that family and intimate assaults involving guns were 12 times more likely to result in death than family and intimate assaults not involving guns.

"The gun industry has been marketing guns to women as a form of self-defense, trying to convince them that a gun in the home will increase their safety," says Family Violence Prevention Fund Executive Director Esta Soler. "The statistics prove that's simply not true. A gun in the home increases the chance that a woman will be injured or killed." How often a gun is used to intimidate or threaten a victim of domestic violence has not been documented, although victims frequently report that the mere threat of gun violence exacerbated the abuse.

There are laws that attempt to restrict gun ownership and protect victims of domestic violence, but loopholes and shortcomings leave many women at great risk of harm. The federal Brady Law prohibits federally-licensed gun dealers from selling firearms to, among others, those convicted of any felony or a domestic violence misdemeanor. People subject to a domestic violence restraining order are also prohibited from owning a gun.

There is evidence that this law has been effective in reducing access to guns by domestic violence perpetrators. In the U. S. between January and November 1998, 70,000 handgun purchases were rejected due to pre-sale background checks. Of these, 9,310 (13.3%) were attributed to the purchaser having a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction or a restraining order filed against him. In fact, domestic violence misdemeanors and restraining orders combined were the second most common reason for rejection, after felony indictments or convictions.

750,000 people rallied for sensible gun control laws at the Million Mom March in Washington, DC, in May

While such progress is promising, loopholes in gun laws enable relatively easy access to guns. Private sales of guns by unlicensed dealers are largely unregulated: a gun owner can sell firearms from a "private collection" up to six times per year, with no limit on how many guns may be sold each time. These private sales may be conducted at flea markets, gun shows, and private residences.

In addition, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the federal agency responsible for regulating gun sales, lacks the resources to provide adequate oversight of licensed gun dealers, some of whom are corrupt. There is evidence that some licensed dealers knowingly allow "straw purchases" in which a person who cannot legally buy a gun has someone else make the purchase on his behalf. The dealer then files paperwork filled out by a legal purchaser, knowing that the gun will be in the possession of a person who is legally prohibited from owning it. The law does not hold the last legal purchaser liable for the gun's use by another party, so these straw purchases pose no risk for gun dealers or straw purchasers willing to provide guns to batterers. Because gun purchasers are not required to register their weapons, these so-called "straw purchases" are nearly impossible to track. The gun Jan's husband used when he attempted to murder her was purchased for him by his father.

Another significant problem involves flaws in the background check system. While laws vary from state to state, a gun dealer may transfer a gun to a purchaser after three to ten business days have elapsed without a "denied" response being returned. If a "denied" response is later returned, a cumbersome bureaucratic process begins to retrieve the gun from the purchaser. By that time, advocates worry, domestic violence victims may be already be dead.

Domestic violence and gun control advocates are taking note of the dangerous combination posed by guns and domestic violence, and are beginning to join forces and organize around the issue. The Million Mom March, a national chapter-based organization of "mothers and others," many of whom have lost loved ones due to gun violence, is one gun control group that is turning its attention to domestic violence and trying to forge connections.

"Guns don't cause domestic violence, but they do increase its severity and lethality," says Andrea Craig, Policy Analyst for the Million Mom March. "If gun control and battered women's advocates work together, they can be a powerful force in raising awareness and prompting public policy changes."

Historically, Craig says, there has been isolated activity linking the two issues but few organized efforts on a large scale. That is beginning to change.

"People seem ready to work together," says Craig, "and I see a lot of open doors. We're encouraging our chapters to contact local domestic violence shelters and agencies to work together and educate each other. We suggest that advocates hold joint press conferences and other events to raise public awareness whenever there is a local domestic violence shooting, and jump start long-term collaborative relationships from there." Candlelight vigils, memorial events, and joint letters to the media are just a few of the activities that provide opportunities for collaboration.

Battered women's advocates can also join First Monday 2000: Unite to End Gun Violence, a national campaign promoting education and action to reduce gun violence. The campaign will hold hundreds of events at schools of law, medicine, nursing, social work and public health, and in communities around the nation on October 2. The first Monday of October is a day when the Supreme Court begins its session and Americans traditionally focus on justice. Attorney General Janet Reno and bipartisan members of Congress helped launch First Monday 2000 in July.

"The domestic violence movement has much to gain from partnering with gun control advocates and focusing on this issue," says Soler. "Working together, we have an opportunity to educate one another, have an even greater impact on the debate, and improve women's lives."

For more information on this issue and references for the statistics cited in this article, visit: www.fvpf.org/newsflash/05-10-2000.html.

FRONTLINES

WORLDWIDE -- From 20 to 50 percent of women around the world have experienced physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner or family member, according to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls took a comprehensive look at global violence against women, and found that just 44 countries have adopted specific legislation to address violence against women, and that poor women are particularly vulnerable to abuse. The report recommends partnerships at community, national and international levels to end violence against women.

NATIONAL -- In a May 15 ruling that bitterly disappointed advocates for victims of domestic violence and rape, the U. S. Supreme Court decided that the Civil Rights Remedy of the Violence Against Women Act is unconstitutional. That remedy had given women the right to bring a federal civil rights action, allowing them to sue their attackers for damages in federal court. The ruling does not affect other provisions of the Violence Against Women Act. Advocates and members of Congress are exploring ways to restore a civil rights remedy.

NATIONAL -- Nearly 25 percent of women report that they have been raped and/ or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, co-habitating partner or a date at some time in their lives, according to a report by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey of 8,000 women and 8,000 men found that 7.6 percent of men reported being victims of the same type of violence. Nearly five percent of women and 0.6 percent of men report being stalked by a current or former intimate partner at some time in their lives.

TEXAS -- Mary Kay Inc. has joined with the Family Violence Prevention Council and Genesis Women's Shelter to create an advertising campaign to raise domestic violence awareness in Dallas. As part of the campaign, the company is sponsoring 50 billboards that read, "Is someone you love hurting you?" The billboards display the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE. They will be posted around the city for five months.

NEW YORK -- Battered women imprisoned for committing violent crimes against their abusers will now be eligible for work release programs. State legislators created an exception to the state policy barring violent offenders from participating in prison work release programs. A New York Times editorial noted the new law "would give those prisoners, who have been victims of prolonged violence themselves, a chance to rebuild their lives."

FLORIDA -- The American Civil Liberties Union has begun to investigate a decision by County Judge Marc Gilner not to grant a restraining order against the allegedly abusive partner of a gay man, reports the Gay.com Network. Last March, the judge refused to grant the order because the law mandates that "such orders apply to couples who have resided together or are presently residing together as families." Judge Gilner says that families do "not include gays and lesbians" because such couples cannot marry or adopt children in the state. Since the decision, county clerks have been unable to issue applications for domestic violence injunctions to gays and lesbians.

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Police in Dover are showing a video featuring three batterers convicted of killing their wives to everyone who is arrested on domestic violence charges, reports the Associated Press. The video, created by the Dover Police Department and the Secret Service, features the three murderers describing their experiences and urging others not to "end up like us" and to seek counseling for their actions. The ten-minute video is shown to prisoners while they are getting booked. After watching the tape, they are asked to fill out a survey describing what they found useful in the tape. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire will use the results to track how many of the viewers end up back in jail or seek counseling.

Looking for a new way to help stop domestic violence? Now you can support the work of the Family Violence Prevention Fund simply by shopping online! The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) has joined CharityMall.com, a site that links to the best stores in cyberspace while helping the causes you care about. Shop at CharityMall.com and every purchase you make results in a donation to the FVPF (typically 3-30% of your purchase price), with no additional cost to you. Registering is easy. Just go to http://www.charitymall.com/fvpf and designate the FVPF as your charity of choice. There is no fee to join; all you need is an email address! CharityMall members can shop from more than 100 online merchants, such as Amazon.com, art.com, BabyCenter, Vitamins.com, CDNOW, 1-800-Flowers.com, wine.com, REI, Esprit and more. Make a difference in the world around you. Shop at CharityMall.com.

FVPF board members Jacquelyn Campbell and Beckie Masaki sit on the Department of Defense task force.

Domestic Violence in the Military

In January 1999, the television news show "60 Minutes" shined a spotlight on an issue Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) leaders have been concerned about for years -- domestic violence in the military. The program spurred conversations between the FVPF and the Department of Defense (DoD), the Battered Women's Justice Project, advocates working on behalf of military women, and Congressional offices about the need to work together to address the needs of battered women in the military and battered military spouses.

In September 1999, the Conference Report of the Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal year 2000 was passed. It mandated the creation of a three-year advisory task force of military stakeholders and civilian domestic violence experts to study the issue and draft a strategic plan, to be reviewed by Defense Secretary William Cohen and ultimately by Congress. Beckie Masaki and Jacquelyn Campbell, two FVPF board members, sit on the DoD task force.

The 24-member task force, co-chaired by Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jack W. Klimp and domestic violence advocate Deborah Tucker, held its first meetings in April of this year, and is off to a fast start. Sub-committees were formed on victim safety, offender accountability, education and training, community collaboration, and special interest items.

"I'm very excited to serve on this task force," says Masaki, executive director of the Asian Women's Shelter and victim safety sub-committee member. "It's an opportunity to make some changes that are going to affect the lives of huge numbers of people in the military. And the military as an institution could be a real leader in demonstrating how we can hold batterers accountable in the workplace."

Campbell, who is a professor and associate dean for doctoral education programs and research at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, sits on the education and training sub-committee, and is impressed with the military's commitment to the issue. "It's clear that the Department of Defense is really prioritizing this issue," she says. "It's heartening that three generals and an admiral have joined the task force. They've also devoted a great deal of staff to support us.

"The military has the chance to influence thousands of men at an age when they are most at risk for committing intimate partner violence," Campbell adds.

The military lifestyle presents unique challenges for the families in its service. Frequent moves and deployments can be disruptive, especially to families with small children. Many enlistees and their families are young and newly-married, and when they are forced to move thousands of miles away from their hometown support systems, the isolation common in domestic violence situations can become even more severe.

Task force co-chair Lt. Gen. Klimp is eager to tackle the issue head on. "Domestic violence is not marine-like. It's not soldier-like. It's not sailor-like. It's not airman-like. We need to ensure that every Marine, soldier, sailor and airman understands that this is not part of being in the United States military."

Task force members from the civilian and military worlds are already educating each other about the best ways to work in their communities. Site visits have begun to both military bases and domestic violence organizations (including the FVPF) to share information and see how domestic violence is currently being addressed.

The work that the task force completes may have valuable lessons that can be applied to the community at large. "If the military can develop some early intervention and training programs for young men," says Campbell, "we can adapt them for civilian use."

Masaki agrees: "The commanders in the military can really have a lot of influence over the people at their bases. In the same way, if community leaders or employers are trained and have protocols to respond to domestic violence, they may be able to really influence people in their communities and workplaces in getting help and ultimately ending domestic violence."

New Report Released on Women's Equality

More than 10,000 women's activists and representatives from 180 governments attended "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century," a special session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York this June. The meeting, a follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women held in China in 1995, is commonly known as "Beijing + 5".

Prior to the special session, the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) released "Women's Equality: An Unfinished Agenda," an independent analysis of the U. S. government's progress in implementing the platform for action created in Beijing. WEDO found that while the government has made significant progress in promoting women's equality, it still has not fully implemented the women's empowerment agenda set at the Conference.

The report examines the status of women in 12 areas, including women and poverty, education and training, health, violence against women, and more. FVPF Executive Director Esta Soler and Associate Director Leni Marin, with consultant Robin Hassler Thompson, prepared the chapter on violence against women.

"The U. S. government has made great strides in the area of violence against women," says Marin, "but it has not come close to eliminating it. There is still a lot of work to be done." Recommendations include re-authorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Specific recommendations are also included on addressing domestic violence in the U. S.

Copies of the report are available from WEDO at (212) 973-0325, and can be downloaded from their website at http://www.wedo.org/launch.htm.