Recession Can Be Deadly for Domestic Abuse Victims

By Mary R. Lauby and Sue Else, The Boston Globe
Thursday 25 December 2008

The ripple effect of the economic crisis has multiplied in ways that many of us could never imagine: banks folding, stock markets diving, and an astronomical government bailout.

For victims of domestic violence, the impact of this downward economic spiral could be deadly.

Economic stresses often lead to more frequent abuse, more violent abuse, and more dangerous abuse when domestic violence already exists. Domestic violence programs report that victims experience an increase in abuse in part because out-of-work abusers have more opportunity to batter. Rhode Island, for example, has recently seen a 25 percent increase in felony-level domestic violence crimes. Victims end up with fewer opportunities to contact programs for help, attend support groups, or get away from the batterer.

Compounding the problem, domestic violence programs face a trio of economic factors - cuts in federal funding, increased demand for services, and decreased private donations as people lose their jobs or see a downturn in their personal finances. These budget constraints make it more difficult for local programs to meet the needs of their communities.

In 2007, the National Network to End Domestic Violence conducted its second annual 24-hour census of domestic violence shelters and programs across the nation. The census report found that in one day, more than 53,000 women, men, and children across the country received services from domestic violence programs. Over 25,000 of those individuals - more than half were children - found refuge in emergency domestic violence shelters or transitional housing.

Mary R. Lauby is executive director of Jane Doe Inc. Sue Else is president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

For the complete story, click HERE.

Study: Most Child Abuse Goes Unreported

TIME MAGAZINE: Children in highly developed countries suffer abuse and neglect much more often than is reported by official child-protective agencies, according to the findings of the first in a comprehensive series of reports on child maltreatment, published Dec. 2 in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Based on a review of research conducted on child abuse between 2000 and June of this year, researchers estimate that 4% to 16% of children are physically abused each year in high-income nations, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. As many as 15% are neglected, and up to 10% of girls and 5% of boys suffer severe sexual abuse; many more are victims of other sexual injury. Yet researchers say that as few as 1 in 10 of those instances of abuse are actually confirmed by social-service agencies -- and that measuring the exact scope of the problem is nearly impossible.

For the complete article, click HERE.

UN: Violence Against Iraqi Women Largely Ignored

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East
25 November 2008

GENEVA, Switzerland -- November 25 marked the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  Organizations around the world use the UN day to comment on the situation facing women where they are based. 

UN's Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Yakin Erturk, commented the conditions of Iraqi women living in Iraq and as refugees in neighboring countries.

According to Erturk, "The ongoing conflict, high levels of insecurity, widespread impunity, collapsing economic conditions and rising social conservatism are impacting directly on the daily lives of Iraqi women and placing them under increased vulnerability to all forms of violence within and outside their home. 

"Violence against Iraqi women is committed by numerous actors, such as militia groups, insurgents, Islamic extremists, law enforcement personnel, members of the family as well as the community."

Iraqi women are victims of rape, sex trafficking, forced and early marriages, murder, and abduction for sectarian or criminal reasons; many are driven or forced into prostitution. In addition, women often fall victim to disproportionate use of force by US forces as well as Iraqi police and security forces.

Most crimes against women "are not reported because of stigma, fear of retaliation, or lack of confidence in the police," MADRE, an international women's rights group, wrote in its 2007 report about violence against women in Iraq. A 2005 report published by he Iraqi National Association for Human Rights found that women held in Interior Ministry detention centers endure "systematic rape by the investigators."

A few national and international organizations work to help rape victims in Iraq.  However, militias have targeted women's rights advocates, forcing their workers underground and making it more difficult to aid victims.

The lack of security in Iraq also complicates national and international efforts to document sexual assaults.  Marianne Molliman, who leads women's rights advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said the security situation has prevented the organization from getting people to look at the issue for a long time.

Ms. Erturk also expressed concern over violence threatening Iraqi women from their own families.

According to Erturk, the number of "honor killings" is increasing and are largely committed with impunity. When perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted, the punishments are lenient under the Iraqi Penal Code.  Women who are sexually assaulted will often not report their attack for fear of being ostracized or even killed by their family.  

In the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, where honor killings are among the primary causes of unnatural deaths among women, there are also frequent reports of female genital mutilation. According to Kurdish Health Minister Zarian Abdel Rahman, 60 percent of girls (aged four to fourteen) undergo circumcision. 

A survey of 201 Kurdish villages, conducted by the German NGO, Wadi, found that 3,502 out of 5,628 women and girls had been mutilated.

Ms. Erturk urged the Iraqi government and the international community to prevent women and girls from being the 'soft targets' of violence and invisible victims of the conflict in Iraq.