DCWA: Safety for women anything but small talk.

The following is the third post in a series covering aspects and angles on the DC Women’s Agenda’s recent white paper, Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations for City Leaders 2007.  The D.C. Women’s Agenda promotes the advancement, equality and well-being of women in D.C. This series of blogs is an extension of a very important proposal of recommendations to city leaders to truly make tangible changes in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Supporting the voices and empowerment of women and girls in D.C. is one of the main objectives of the DCWA and the DCWA white paper, Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations for City Leaders 2007. 

To support women and girls in D.C., we must first educate ourselves and our communities about the obstacles that women and girls in D.C. battle daily. 

Unfortunately, one of the main obstacles that stagnates the empowerment of women is a lack of safety, whether from the risk of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. 

According to the National Organization for Women, women are 10 times more likely then men to be assaulted by an intimate partner.  And according to the District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “In 2005, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) received 27,401 domestic-related crime calls—one every 19 minutes.” This statistic only represents crimes that are reported–we estimate that there are many more that go unnoticed.  (The Women’s Foundation’s Portrait Project also features some excellent statistics on health and safety for women in our region–check out a recent post on street harrassment in D.C. for details.) 

A violent environment affects every aspect of a woman’s life.

It is much more difficult for her to hold a job.  Her partner may go to great lengths to ensure that she is, in fact, not able to hold a job. Often, an abuser will make her late for work, call repeatedly throughout the day, or worse yet, come to her workplace.  All of these things make it extremely hard for her to keep a job when her employer knows that there are others out there who do not have such problems.  Without a job, it is very hard for a woman, especially if she has children, to leave an abusive situation.  How will she pay for food or be able to afford an apartment?

We must recognize that a lack of safety is a catalyst to expedite other issues such as homelessness, problems keeping a steady job, possible mental illness, drug abuse/addiction and low self-esteem. 

To ensure safety for all women and girls, there are a plethora of changes that city leaders can make:

• Provide funding and publicity to increase access, availability, and awareness of comprehensive services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and other violent acts.
• Promote and fund the Commission on Violence Against Women (or the local D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence) and their mission to increase public awareness and provide comprehensive services for the physical and psychological needs for victims.
• Ensure that the commission is comprised of a variety of government agency representatives as well as community-based service providers to actively involve the community and allow a diverse, wide spectrum of people to feel some ownership. 

When there are adequate programs available to women to mitigate the problem of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, women are much more likely to leave their abusive situation.

Having access to a safe shelter will allow a woman and her children a place to stay while she seeks the necessary services to better her situation, or to save up enough money to find a new place to live. 

Medical services will help her heal physically. 

The availability of case management services and counseling will help her heal emotionally from the atrocities that she had to deal with, as well as assisting her in getting her life back. 

With services such as these providing the means for women to get out of their abusive situations, we will begin see the numbers of survivors rising. 

Discussing a daunting topic like this is not small talk. 

We must continue to protect our own–ourselves, the women in our lives and the women and girls in our community.

As one of the most infamous passages of the U. S. Constitution states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  This phrase evolved from the Virginia Declaration of Independence, in which articles 1-3 outline the relationship between the government and those that are governed by claiming, “All men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights of which… [they cannot divest;] namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

One can not pursue happiness, whatever that may be, without safety.  Safety for all is one of our inherent natural rights.

Thus said, let’s continue our right to “pursue safety,” for “all men” (that means women, too).

Previous and related posts and information:
DCWA: Calling all city leaders!
DCWA: Economic security is key to the city’s health.
The Women’s Foundation’s Portrait Project (with a section on the health and safety of our region’s women and girls)

About the blogger:
Natasha Pendleton is a summer intern with Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), a convenor of the DC Women’s Agenda.  She is currently a senior attaining a bachelor of arts degree in sociology with concentrations in law and society and urban and regional planning at Cornell University.  She serves as theatrical director of an anti-oppression theatre troop, which performs for more than 5,000 people nationwide (annually) to promote diversity and racial harmony on college campuses.  A native of Chicago, Natasha was motivated to come to Washington, D.C. this summer to work with WOW by issues of social and economic justice that have pressed upon her heart for some time.  Natasha truly believes that not only is the government accountable, but it is our responsibility to be informed citizens to challenge the state of local policy.  And furthermore, as those informed citizens, it is our responsibility to raise voices and awareness so that all people, especially women and girls, can live in safe, fair, and thriving communities.