THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
The recent coverage of the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Bejing, China, has brought information to readers on the scope of violence against women, including domestic violence, around the world. Meanwhile, we in Virginia deal daily with this reality.
In Virginia, the number of battered women is astounding. A victim seeks help from a domestic-violence program every 17 minutes. While thousands of women and children are sheltered from abuse each year, 44 percent of women and children seeking shelter are turned away. A family seeking shelter from domestic violence is turned away every three hours. These figures on battered women seeking help show just a fraction of women in Virginia experiencing domestic violence.
Finally, our most alarming statistic: In 1993, 68 percent of women and girls murdered in Virginia were killed by a family member or a friend.
Not only are the families experiencing domestic violence affected, we all are. It tears apart our homes and our communities. The violence in our homes contributes to the violence in our streets. We cannot build enough jails for abusers or enough shelters for their victims.
We have to all work together to prevent and reduce domestic violence. That means moving out of the shadows by reaching out to women whom we suspect are battered, discussing domestic violence with our families, our friends, at work and in our communities, and supporting the professionals who work with battered women and batterers. Only by taking action can we begin to end the epidemic of domestic violence.
JOY WRIGHT, program coordinator
Virginia Family Violence Hotline
Williamsburg, Sept. 8, 1995
KEYWORDS: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE by CNB