Document 72: "Battered Women," in Susanna Downie, Decade of Achievement: 1977-1987: A Report on a Survey Based on the National Plan of Action for Women (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Conference Committee, 1988), p. 18.

p. 18

BATTERED WOMEN

NATIONAL PLAN GOALS

•elimination of violence in the home, as a national goal •national clearinghouse for information and technical and financial assistance to emergency shelters and other support services for battered women and their children •mass media campaign to educate the public •training programs for local and state law enforcement agencies and social welfare agencies •funding for shelters •removal of interspousal tort immunity •full legal services for victims of abuse •shelters should be sensitive to the bilingual and multicultural needs of ethnic and minority women.

   The battered women's movement has made great strides since 1977. Starting with a handful of battered women's programs in the early 1970s, the battered women's movement has developed over 1,200 programs – shelters, safehomes, hotlines, and advocacy projects – throughout the country.

   It has—

•   Organized the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 1979 as a vehicle for speaking in one voice to the needs of battered women and battered women's programs. NCADV also serves as a clearinghouse for information and organizational support.

•   Generated statewide funding for battered women's programs in 49 states through marriage and divorce surcharges, court fees, and appropriations through state legislatures, beginning in the late 70's and continuing to the present.

•   Worked with federal legislators to develop the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, passed in October, 1984, resulting in $8.5 million for battered women's programs in fiscal years 1986 and 1987.

•   Worked with federal legislators to develop priorities for Victims of Crime Assistance funds — priorities which have provided funding for battered women's programs and sexual assault programs nationwide. The VOCA Act was passed October, 1984.

•   Made shelters eligible for Title XX funds (by extensive consulting with the Department of Health and Human Services on changes in Title XX regulations which designated battered women as a priority classification).

•   Served as advisors (late 70's through early 80's) to officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development on the needs of battered women in such areas as Section 8 Housing, and shelter eligibility for Community Development Block Grant Funds; also advised other federal policy makers to ensure that battered women in shelter were eligible for food stamps.

•   Starting in 1981, developed materials and strategies for annual promotion of Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October) and National Day of Unity, a time to recognize the work of advocates for battered women, celebrate battered women making new lives for themselves, and mourn battered women who have lost their lives.

•   Established a national toll free hotline for battered women and their families, 1-800-333-SAFE (7233) in October, 1987.

•   Worked in conjunction with nine participating Johnson & Johnson brands to create Shelter Aid, a nationwide community awareness campaign geared toward providing funding for battered women's programs (1987).

•   Called attention to the needs of battered rural women, women of color, and lesbian women, and supported organizing by battered and formerly battered women, lesbian women, rural women, women of color, prostitutes, older women, and differently-abled women.

•   Created special programs to meet the needs of children who have experienced or witnessed violence.

•   Provided training and developed written protocols for medical, law enforcement and criminal justice, mental health, and social services personnel.

•   Defended battered women charged with assaulting of killing their abusers in self defense.

   We have begun to take steps to address this tragic problem, there are now services in nearly every community, but we are still at the beginning of understanding the scope of the problem. Estimates of how many women are abused by their husbands or lovers run as high as 1 in 2, as low as 1 in 10. Shelters consistently find they cannot serve all the women that seek their help, but some estimate they serve at least half of the women that need help, others have long waiting lists and say they serve only 1 in 6 or 1 in 10 of those seeking help. The fact is, we dont know. But it is safe to say that there are still hundreds of thousands of women in the US who need our help, and dont know how to find us, or dont even know we exist. We have reason to believe that public awareness is at an all time high, but there has been no systematic measure of this. The Shelter Aid program, and the new hotline, are too recent to give us a better sense of the numbers. In some ways, we are still at the beginning.

— Kerry Lobel,                         
Chair, Steering Committee of NCADV

RESOURCE

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Box 15127
Washington, DC 20003 (202) 293-8860 Hotline: 800/333-7233

   

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