Domestic violence comes to forefront
by Elana Bergeron, reporter

    A woman is beaten every 15 seconds. Three times more domestic violence cases are reported than rapes, but only an estimated 1 out of 10 cases are actually reported, according to the FBI.

    Domestic violence is a growing problem in the United States, and October is designated National Domestic Violence Awareness month.

    Both women and men can be victims of abuse, but there is help for those who need it. There is no shame in getting help, but rather more harm in not asking for help.

    The U.S. Department of Justice estimates between 960,000 to 4 million people are battered or abused each year by a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend.

    Each month nearly 11,000 callers receive assistance from the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The callers are families, friends and victims. The hotline can provide help in 139 different languages. The number is 1-800-799-SAFE(7233) or from a TTY at 1-800-787-3224.

    When a call is placed to the national hotline, the caller will be provided with information to find shelter, legal assistance and social services to help them and their families.

    Calls are always confidential. However, to help the Hotline volunteers direct a caller to the best resources available, the volunteer will ask about the problem, past history and any police involvement. The database can provide help nationwide.

    The hotline does not provide counselors over the phone, but will pull local help from a national database to provide services in the caller’s area.

    In 2000, the Arlington Women’s Shelter housed 1,240 people. Last year, they provided shelter to 522 women and 718 children. This is only one of the local metroplex shelters helping in this widespread problem.

    Ronna Quimby, a licensed professional counselor with 12 years of family violence counseling experience, recently became the client services director at Arlington Women’s Shelter. She says that the average stay is about two weeks, but women may stay there up to 30 days. Police, hotlines and other agencies refer women to shelters. While in the shelter, the women receive clinical counseling, case management and legal services.

    Arlington Shelter provides many outside services to the community. Last year 569 women were also helped without a stay at the shelter. Arlington Women’s Shelter has a program called Survive, in which a counselor goes to the victims in response to a police request. Legal counseling is provided to the victims at no cost except for filing fees.

    To help potential victims learn about domestic abuse, the shelter has developed programs to educate teenagers and college students on recognizing abuse. Taught in 13 metroplex communities right now, Arlington has two programs. Pride and Project Date are 90-minute programs to teach teenagers about healthy versus unhealthy relationships. The programs are generally taught through health classes at school, but have been presented to youth programs at churches and other youth groups. They helped to educate 8,024 teens last year, and hope to reach 8,500 this year.

    In addition, a program is currently being taught at UTA. Pride is for the middle school level, and Project Date is targeted at high school age teens. A college level course is also available.

    “The programs are pitched to both girls and boys at the same time so they can learn to identify unhealthy behaviors. Then they are encouraged to give examples of unhealthy relationship behavior they might have seen to learn to distinguish red flags in relationships,” Rebekah Oursler, an Arlington Shelter administrator, said.

    All races, ethnicities and socioeconomic classes are vulnerable to the threat of domestic violence and abuse. It is a myth that it is infrequent or not severe, or that it could not affect any individual, a close friend or a family member.

    To request one of Arlington Women’s Shelter’s programs, call the Youth Peace program at 817-460-0606.