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Show SAFE 2000: Ending Abuse and Violence in Utah Families: How to Get from Here to There Attorney General Jan Graham ly impact their work performance: 25 percent of workplace problems such as absenteeism, low productivity, and excessive use of medical benefits are due to family violence. Abusive partners harass 74 percent of battered women at work, either in person or over the telephone, and eventually, 20 percent lose their jobs (Zorza 1991). In many cases, co-workers and managers have guessed what's going on, but there is a code of silence about it; no one asks and no help is offered. Today most adults spend the majority of their waking time at work, and many businesses have responded by providing working families with much-needed perquisites: in-house daycare, flexible schedules, and employee assistance programs (EAPs). The return for businesses is increased productivity, better morale, and even better health. If businesses were to maximize their response to family violence, they could expect similar returns. By avoiding the issue, they not only ignore a victim's plight, but also put their employees at risk. Again, the working groups must identify the steps a company should take to protect its employees' physical well-being, and ensure that employees are performing their jobs without the threat and worry of abuse problems at home. Do workplaces know what to do if an employee has a protective order and it is violated at work? Do workplaces appoint a person to counsel and assist employees with other personal problems, such as substance abuse? The answers to these questions will evolve into recommendations to companies for developing on-site employee education and assistance programs, similar to what many businesses currently do for other issues that can impact work performance, such as sexual harassment. Neighbors, friends, and relatives may suspect that there are problems in a home, but no one dares to ask because it seems like invading a family's privacy. Fifty-three percent of Utah women know of a family member or friend who is emotionally abused, 39 percent know someone who is a victim of isolation, and 41 percent know someone who is a victim of intimidation (GCWF 1997, 5). These circles have the biggest influence on our values and behavior and are often the ones victims turn to for help, but the vast majority lack resource information: What should a neighbor do if he or she sees or hears family violence occurring? Can relatives make a report to Child Protective Services if they know the children have witnessed violence? We monitor our neighborhoods to report other types of criminal activity and we offer support to families who have been robbed or whose homes have been vandalized. That same support should be extended to families of domestic violence, and it can be as simple as providing additional training for Neighborhood Watch participants, or establishing a Safe House where children can go if violence is happening in their home. Again, it simply requires that we stop relying solely on police officers to solve the problem next door, and work within our neighborhoods and other social networks to help a family in crisis. The Next Step The SAFE 2000 Plan will be available in draft form prior to the end of 1998. Input will then be sought from a wide variety of sources prior to implementation. This won't be easy. Because we're looking at long-range solutions, the progress will be slow and the full benefits of this endeavor will not be completely evident for several years. But I hope that over time our efforts will produce generations of children who live in safe, loving homes, and who will grow up knowing that violence has no place in a family. References Governor's Commission on Women and Families. 1997. Domestic Violence Incidence and Prevalence Study, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates. Miller, G. 1989. "Violence by and against America's Children," Journal of Juvenile Justice Digest, 17(12), 6. Novello, Antonia, C. 1992. "From the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, A Medical Response to Domestic Violence," Journal of the American Medical Association, 267. Peled, Einat, Peter G. Jaffe, & Jeffrey L. Edleson. 1995. Ending the Cycle of Violence: Community Responses to Children of Battered women. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Stark, Evan, and Anne Flitcraft. 1996. Women at Risk: Domestic Violence and Women's Health. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Straus, Murray A., Richard J. Gelles, and Suzanne K. Steinmetz. 1980. Behind Closed Doors: Violence m the American Family. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday. Zorza, Joan. 1991. "Woman Battering: A Major Cause of Homeless-ness," Clearinghouse Review, 25(4):420-429. '92 |