ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
THOSE WHO'VE HAD to flee violent homes ask the candidates for Congress in the 6th District what they'd do about domestic violence.
When political candidates make speeches about crime, they usually talk about getting tough on street crime. They promise to lock up carjackers, armed robbers and drug dealers.
Darlene Young has a broader definition of crime. She's the director of the Salvation Army's Turning Point battered-women's shelter in Roanoke, and over the years she's seen it all: women and children beaten and bruised, their arms broken, their lives threatened, pummeled with words and fists that tell them they're worthless and weak.
Young believes most people - including politicians - are more aware of domestic violence these days.
But she believes more needs to be done to break the cycle of violence in the home.
Women at Turning Point agree government should do more to prevent domestic violence and support its victims.
"If there was a war tomorrow, they'd find the money to fight it," said one woman who fled to the shelter with her children. "But yet there's a war on women - domestic violence - but they can't find the money to fight it."
Young and four Turning Point clients talked this week about domestic violence and what they believe the candidates for Congress in Virginia's 6th District and beyond should know about it - and what they should do about it.
They want to see more money for shelters and for day care and housing for women and their children who are trying to escape violence. They'd also like to see tougher penalties for abusers.
"I think we're too easy on people who hurt other people," Young said.
"I think the chain gang should come back," one Turning Point resident added.
Another concern among domestic-violence victims and their advocates is the welfare bill passed by the Congress this year and signed into law by President Clinton.
They say the law - which includes work requirements and time limits on benefits - will make it harder for women to break away from violent partners.
Many suffer from "battered women's syndrome" and are mentally and financially dependent on their attackers. As the welfare safety net is reduced, Young said, they may become even less likely to leave.
Battered women often have trouble holding jobs, she said, because of the psychological harm they've suffered - and because their abusers become violent when they get jobs and try to be independent. Some will batter them black-and-blue before they go to job interviews, or show up on their jobs and cause scenes that get them fired.
Jody Raphael is director of Taylor Institute, a Chicago-based think tank that's studying women, welfare and domestic violence. She says most studies find that about half of women in welfare-to-work programs are currently victims of abuse.
The welfare revisions give states the option of exempting battered women from work requirements and time limits, but Raphael predicts large numbers will fall through the cracks. Many are afraid to tell about the abuse, she said, and some fear they will lose custody of their children if they admit there's violence in the home.
The women interviewed at Roanoke's Turning Point said they want to work, but they need time and support once they decide to break from a life of violence.
"You're the one who's being abused," one Turning Point client said. "But you're the one who has to leave your home and start over again."
"It's not the government's responsibility to take care of you," another said. "But you pay taxes, and I do think the government should help you get back to where you can be productive."
Sixth District Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, disagrees with people who say the new welfare rules will make things harder on domestic-violence victims.
"I don't think you should start with a presumption that there isn't a limit to what government can do and that the person shouldn't have responsibility to do their best to get employment" or get job training.
"I'm not a physician," he added. "There might be a period of time when that person might be deemed under disability. And if that is the case, then they should get assistance."
Goodlatte says he has done a lot to help victims of abuse, such as voting to increase spending for shelter programs and boosting penalties for abusers.
His Democrat opponent, Jeff Grey, believes the welfare limits will hurt victims of violence. "It's certainly going to play a part in domestic violence and whether or not these women can make it when they leave their homes."
Grey, who visited with women from Turning Point during his campaign, also argues that domestic violence should be a felony punishable by prison time. Currently, most domestic-violence cases are misdemeanors carrying penalties of no more than one year in a local jail.
The Libertarian candidate, Jay Rutledge, says women should use guns to defend themselves. At the same time, more money should go into to punishing "intimidation, battery and other common crime," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER/Staff. ``I think we're too easy on people whoby CNBhurt other people," says Darlene Young, director of Turning Point
shelter. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS