Too many turn blind eye to domestic violence

We celebrate Women's History Month in March, and we recognize the enormous contributions that women have made to our nation, and the great strides we have made throughout the years. We can even vote in today's society! That may be something we take for granted, but women in some countries are still struggling to claim that right.

Rita Mulherin, Safe Homes' volunteer coordinator, and I attended Women's Lobby Day at the state Capitol recently. This is a day set aside each year when the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Georgia Commission Against Family Violence come together with women's advocates from around the state to talk to our politicians about domestic violence and its devastating effects on victims and their children.

IMAGINE OUR surprise and concern when a Georgia senator stormed into the meeting room and very condescendingly told the directors of the coalition and the commission to take their "little ladies" and find another meeting room. Have we stepped back in time, two steps forward and three back?

To say we were appalled and incensed would be an understatement. This annual event had already been rescheduled three times. But we did have to move to another room. The politicians in the original room scheduled for our meeting proceeded to drink our coffee and eat our continental breakfast. Perhaps these politicians are not ready to recognize gender equality, and still think of women as second-class citizens.

There were men in attendance for Women's Lobby Day, too, such as law enforcement officials, judges, etc. (Superior Court Judge Duncan Wheale chairs the Georgia Commission Against Domestic Violence.) One gentleman who would not identify himself approached the senator and reminded him whom he works for and who puts him in office.

AS MY ANGER subsided a little, I realized that we probably need to do a better job of educating these folks on how domestic violence affects us all. After all, perhaps they do not know that domestic violence costs corporate America $5.8 billion annually in absenteeism, lost productivity and medical visits. They also may be unaware that 50 percent of women and children who are homeless are homeless because of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is not just the proverbial black eye. It runs the gamut - it can be financial, verbal or emotional abuse, or isolation.

Not only corporate America but welfare reform, health care and employment opportunities all are directly affected by domestic violence, and will never be wholly remedied until violence in the home is ameliorated.

In other words, if women are to have equal rights, we must start with access to the most basic of needs: safety, and the right to live in their own homes without fear.

We are making strides in the field of domestic violence. We have resources available now that weren't there when I was growing up. The O.J. Simpson trial is one very high-profile case that helped bring domestic violence out of the closet. Women should not be used as punching bags and be prisoners in their own home.

The number of women seeking shelter has overwhelmed our capacity for assistance, and we are in dire need of a larger facility for our 10-county service area.

Folks, our local community built a state-of-the-art animal shelter with SPLOST funds, while victims of domestic violence and their children have to be turned away because there is no room at the proverbial inn. We do not discriminate; we help men too, and 1 percent of our clients were men last year.

WE MUST BUILD this shelter. It will not only change lives; it will save lives and allow these victims and their children to live to make history. As Harvard University history professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich once said, "Well-behaved women rarely make history." Liberate victims of domestic violence and give them a chance to lead productive lives.

It is unacceptable for us to use SPLOST funds to build the animal shelter while our victims and children do not have a safe place to sleep. I implore the Augusta community to build the shelter and give us a reason to celebrate women's history.

(Editor's note: The writer is the executive director of Safe Homes of Augusta, Inc.)