In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, UMass has hosted a few events to raise awareness of the issue on campus. Last Tuesday in the Chancellor’s Conference Room a large crowd of UMB students witnessed a panel of experts discuss issues of domestic violence. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Keith Motley delivered the welcoming address with Executive Director of The Artists Foundation Kathleen Bitetti. Bitteti gave an Art/Talk on her exhibit in the Harbor Art Gallery, Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, earlier this month.
Before introducing the panel, moderator Beverly Kennedy commented, “This is a wonderful panel of respected colleagues in the field of domestic violence among adults, children, and perpetrators.”
Executive Director for the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women Linda Brantley described the organization as, “An independent state agency that exists to give a permanent, effective voice for women, all 3.3 million of them, in Massachusetts.” The number one area where the commission saw gaps and barriers was violence against women. Childcare was a close second. The commission has organized a task force on violence against women who meet regularly to help stop it. In 1988, domestic violence was the number one healthcare issue facing women. Brantley hopes that this will “cease to exist.”
Executive Director of Employers Against Domestic Violence Jean Haertl talked about how domestic violence affected businesses. Haertl suggests there are three reasons why domestic violence is an issue in the workplace. “The first is cost, the second is cost, and the third is…cost.” She claims that most batterers find their victims in the workplace.
Haertl comments, “One of the biggest factors in woman leaving their abusers is what? An income. And if the employee comes in late or misses work due to domestic violence, their employers do what? They either discipline or fire them…I soon see in the future of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ legislation protecting employees in the Commonwealth for being fired due to domestic violence…to make sure when a victim gets laid off due to domestic violence or she’s separated from work, she can collect unemployment.”
Although only 3% of companies in Massachusetts have policies addressing domestic violence in the workplace, the Commonwealth is considered one of the most progressive employers in the country on these issues.
For the past ten years, Dr. Roseanna H. Means has donated a significant portion of her professional life to providing healthcare for homeless persons. She is the president of Women of Means at Harvard University. Means comments, “In Boston, there are only two main places where women can go for shelter to escape domestic violence…the bottom line is there are many vulnerable women out there. Because of the budget cuts, a multitude of human services have been eliminated or reduced to these vulnerable women.”