Battling domestic violence

The real battle, said a woman who recently used the services at Spruce Run shelter for women and children, is not leaving an abusive relationship. “The real battle is staying out. The support group at Spruce Run, the Hot Line, the books, the meetings, the educational materials and caring staff make staying out an attainable thing.”

The tremendous commitment required from a person leaving an abusive relationship must be matched by a commitment from many supporting advocates, but the system doesn’t work if it relies solely on volunteers. Maine, unfortunately, has not significantly boosted funding for organizations like Spruce Run or Rape Response Services or any of the score of similar services statewide in 15 years. LD 524, the Violence Intervention and Protection Act, would add $4.8 million each year of the biennium to help pay for the basic, ongoing programs that make up the most important work these services provide.

The money would be used to offer education in schools and the community and to support current services. This is an important distinction in funding. These agencies can attract one-time grants for all sorts of interesting studies or unusual, high-profile events. But they need a regular, dependable source of funds to do the work they do every day – operating the 24-hour hotline, going to court with clients to get protection from abuse orders, counseling, getting services for children. These crucial but often mundane activities can sometimes make the difference between life and death for a person leaving an abusive relationship.

But the bill goes further than services for victims. It spends $1 million on community safety and $1.2 million on prevention. These are the areas that everyone talks about funding to reduce violence but are rarely given the resources needed to be effective. This bill allows more people to be hired to teach children about what is acceptable behavior, how to deal with sexual harassment and how to get help if they have been assaulted. Maine’s domestic violence and sexual assault hotlines average 170 calls a day; domestic violence is Maine’s most prevalent crime – half of all homicides result from it – and, according to several surveys, it is its most underreported.

The Legislature knows this, and a record 140 legislators agreed to co-sponsor LD 524, which was originally sponsored by Rep. Pat Colwell of Gardiner and Sen. Mary Cathcart of Orono. And though he left the funding out of his budget, Gov. King knows it, too. The governor, who has been committed to reducing domestic violence in Maine, may be willing to trade on the popularity of the proposal to gain other less popular measures in his budget (a likely bargain might fund this bill in exchange for overcoming the Democrats’ reluctance at getting the state out of the retail liquor business).

Support is abundant; available funding is not. Lawmakers will have to not only pass this bill to see it take effect, but work it into the budget and then protect it when the final state appropriations are approved. Given the funding demands and limited revenues this year, that won’t be easy. But as abundant and brutally clear statistics show, it is essential to reducing this problem in Maine.

The woman quoted above went on to say, “A battered women has to change the very way she thinks. It is tedious, scary and plain old hard to do. Spruce Run offers tools and people who understand and empowers a woman to keep reaching for a safe life.” Domestic assault is often about power, applied violently. This bill attempts to meet that power with something besides good intentions.