Every day at Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse we ask people to be courageous. They make difficult choices when they leave abusive situations. They leave everything they have behind and trust that their decision to leave is worth the incredible risks they are taking.
Why do they do this?
Because it is a matter of life and death.
These are powerful women, courageous children and perhaps the best teachers for our elected officials.
There is no political shell game that will ease the next beating. There is no simple decision that will protect children from harm the next time their abuser decides that their mother spent too much at the grocery store and this time he will teach her a lesson. There is no opportunity to go home after a hard day and have a glass of wine to unwind from the pressure and stress; their home is their stress!
They are in the fight of their lives and they know that to survive, something must be sacrificed. In Tucson and in Arizona, we are all in the fight of our lives, and I am saddened by what the legislature chooses to sacrifice.
The lack of leadership and courage that continues to be demonstrated by our elected officials is deeply disappointing. The legislature is unable to pass a meaningful budget that allows agencies to plan for the future. The legislature’s lack of prudent fiscal planning puts women and children at risk in our community—a community legislators are elected to protect.
Let me provide you with a brief example of the kind of decisions our elected officials are making. This spring when you prepare your taxes, you will see the domestic violence shelter fund as an option for donating your tax dollars. That sounds worthwhile, doesn’t it? The sad news is that our legislature has swept up all $180,000 of this fund to use elsewhere. It’s better to donate to your local domestic violence agency than to the state.
For Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse, this one shortsighted decision equates to a loss of 269 nights of shelter for women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
So, in light of the poor leadership …
Senator Melvin: Today there are 14 women and 10 children in our shelter from your district. Can I send them to your house to heal from domestic abuse, and can you be sure to provide them with 24-hour support and safety?
Representative Antenori: Today there are seven women and nine children in our shelter from your district. Can I send them to your house tonight? Please be sure to provide them with referrals for employment training so they can gain the needed skills to create a fully self-sufficient life. Also, the children will need some one-to-one work to process the abuse they just left.
Representative Williams: Today there are an additional 11 women and five children (out of our 120 in shelter) that need a safe place to sleep. Can I send them to your house tonight? They will need a bed, clean sheets and a pillow, food, shampoo and deodorant. When they left their homes they literally only had what they could carry in one bag.
To all three of you: While they are at your home, can you share with them your plan to ensure safety for them in our community? The state has cut more than $500,000 from domestic-violence funding for Tucson in the last seven months, and there is no clear direction for our state budget.
Whew, that gets us through tonight. Thanks for your help. Let’s hope that the police don’t have anyone else that they need to drop off after responding to one of the 20 domestic violence calls they average each night.
Elected officials’ inability to make fair, tough decisions is unsafe and will cost lives. Don’t believe me? There were 112 domestic-violence-related deaths in Arizona in 2009 (through Dec. 17).
It is time for real leadership that ensures our community’s safety. Domestic violence is not discretionary. Emerge! is more than happy to do its share of shouldering the burden of the bad economy; however, we can’t without a reasonable state budget.
Sarah Jones is the CEO of the Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse.
This article appears in Jan 21-27, 2010.
Question for the Center: Why don’t you just give all the needed money to your abuse victims? Answer: We don’t HAVE IT!
Question for the State: Why don’t you just give all the needed money to the Center?
Answer: We don’t HAVE IT!
The point is, that in about two months, state checks are going to start bouncing. We’ve taken the payday loans already, we’ve bonded to the max, we’re selling our state buildings and parks, and we are about to default on those loans and bonds and rents. When that happens, the state will have no more credit, and when you deposit your state check, it will bounce sky high!
I hate to tell you, but a ‘reasonable state budget’ will NOT ‘ensure our community’s safety.’ Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to defend any of the antics the governor or legislature have been performing. But the fact is, like it or not, even a HUGE TAX INCREASE won’t save us now. Any reasonable budget will be worse than what we have already.
Yet another article on domestic abuse that neglects to even mention the proven and quantifiable fact that men are also sometimes victims of domestic abuse. Though fewer in number, they too face stigmas when looking for help; and, their numbers are growing. When this fact (which is so easily found in the public domain) is systematically neglected, it speaks to an agenda that is outside the main mission at hand: helping PEOPLE who need help.
Bring on the tax increase already. Make it fair, graduated so that the rich pay more, since they can best afford to do so. Use it to keep us safe, to provide top notch education from kindergarden through University, and economic investment in the future. The “no new taxes” matra is so ’80s — wake up Arizona! It’s a new millenium and as a result of the selfish and mean spirited dogma of the past 30 years – thinking that tears down “commuunity” in favor of individual gain – we are headed for disaster. The middle class is disappearing, yet they vote over and over again for their executioners. Don’t blame the politicians – it’s the voters who need to wake up from the trance they’ve been in since the Reagan years.
A reminder to all that people need to follow our comments policy, and that anyone who uses a fake email address to comment will see their comments deleted.
I was wondering Sarah, is it the main priority of your therapist to simply get the women who come to you to divorce their husbands? Are there any situations where you don’t, or do they simply fear monger every woman into believing that every case is and will become worst case scenario? Never taking or getting another side to any story since you never allow the accused to defend themselves or attent any therapy. You see I know someone who recent received some help at Emerge and it seems as if once she had filed for divorce her therapy was over and she was convinved that simply divorce was the only answer and that no further therapy was needed. Can your therapist really fix PTSD in just 7 weeks, because if so they should charge and should share their secrets with the rest of the psycho-therapy world.