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Today's Poll!Our Opinion: Fund shelters for victims of domestic violence
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
When a victim of domestic violence decides to leave the abusive relationship, being turned away at a shelter intensifies the fear, vulnerability and desperation.
That scenario, sadly, has been repeated statewide and here in Central Missouri.
As a step toward ensuring shelter doors are open when needed, we support Gov. Jay Nixon’s proposal to include $2 million in his 2014 budget for domestic violence shelters. The allocation, specifically, would expand transitional housing and enhance residential and support services across the state.
Jim Clardy, executive director of Rape and Abuse Crisis Services (RACS), pointed out that although demand has increased, funding has decreased. RACS operates a 36-bed shelter in Jefferson City.
Since 1999, Clardy said, bednights — an overnight stay for one occupant — have increased each year. State funding, however, has decreased, from $134,592 in 2006 to $102,735 in 2013.
“Because we get a lot of requests for women with two to three kids, we can’t always take them in,” he said. “Normally, we refer them to other shelters if we’re full.”
The disparity between demand and services is reflected in statewide statistics. Nearly 19,000 women and children were turned away from Missouri shelters in 2011 and 25,000 requests for domestic violence services were unmet, according to the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
In his State of the State address, the governor said: “We know that battered women are at greatest risk when they make the courageous decision to leave an abusive partner. Finding shelter can literally make the difference between life and death for these women and their children.”
Exaggeration abounds in the language of political persuasion, but not in this case.
Ending any relationship is fraught with unknowns. When a victim chooses to face those unknowns rather than risk further abuse, the window may be open only briefly.
When that happens, a safe and caring shelter from the storm of domestic violence is a necessity.
More like this story
- Desperate, but turned away from Missouri shelters
- Experts: Cycle of domestic violence must be broken
- Jim Clardy was the first man to run women’s crisis service
- Our Opinion: Practical steps to address domestic violence
- Camden, Morgan and Miller counties joins in 2012 National Domestic Violence Awareness Month observance
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Comments
connor 2 months, 3 weeks ago
19% of women were turned down eh? Well guess what 100% of all men were also turned down at this and every other farce we fund under the flag of domestic violence. Domestic violence is always a two way street and initiated just a often and indulged in just as much by women as men. Yet the men are forcibly removed from their own homes by the state, many times without even their wallets or car keys and left to fend for themselves.
Projects like this are discriminatory, biased and Non-Constitutional to the extreme and should not be funded by tax money.
As usual liberal/Feminist equality is a one way street of entitlement and bias for women.
JCLifer 2 months, 3 weeks ago
This stinks.
JCLifer 2 months, 3 weeks ago
It's a damn shame that these services are even needed. However, it seems that there ought to be better solutions to helping these men and women through better law enforcement and with the help of the churches and other private charities.
Does anyone know if these services are available to same-sex partners? They should be.
Like Connor says, abuse is not limited to one sex or orientation. There are victims on all sides. There should be no discrimination to anyone.
online_editor 2 months, 3 weeks ago
I removed some comments in an exchange that included personal insults between participants. Feel free to repost any issue-oriented points they also contained. If someone makes a statement you feel is politically charged one way or another (but not a personal insult to a forum participant), please respond by telling our readers why you believe the reasoning is flawed or it's an ad hominem, etc., without including personal remarks toward the other, so that we can keep the forum focused on issue-oriented discussion. Thanks. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune
connor 2 months, 3 weeks ago
OK I will try this again.
This article is misleading. It doesn't mention the other funding RACs brings in. Including Federal money and it's share of the United Way drive where they use such Feminist inspired fund raising events as Dressing male supervisors up in women's clothing to parade around and the ever popular Mr. Leg's contests.
It also fails to report that the Jefferson City RACs routinely takes in clients from I personally know as far away as Springfield and have heard of others coming from much further. If turning women away is such a big deal why do they need to import them from larger cities?
Like all Liberal/Feminist programs the Domestic violence industry is simply a wealth redistribution scheme employing 90% + women while practicing gender bias, favoritism and discrimination.
It should have zero government funding unless it is willing to treat all victims of abuse and violence equally.
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