RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

Paper Laws vs. Reality

By Pat Racimora on September 28, 2009 at 12:20 PM in Abuse, Women and Children

webrviolencetoon_edited-1
We need good laws, but they lose all meaning unless they actually work. The situation for battered women in California provides a sobering case in point.

Fifteen years ago the federal government passed the federal Violence Against Women Act , reenacted in 2005 to last through 2009. Money was allocated for grants to develop programs and shelters as well as strengthen the penalties for domestic violence and rape. Around the same time, California passed AB 167, the Battered Women Protection Act, that funded shelter programs for abused women and their children.

We don’t know what will happen at the federal level as of January, but we do know what is happening in California, and it is a devastating picture. All funding has been cut. Here are some excerpts from an article by Jesse McKinley in the New York Times:

Because of cuts in state financing, several domestic violence shelters in California have closed in recent months, with layoffs or fewer full-time staff members at many others. Legal services — like help obtaining restraining orders — have been curtailed, as has counseling.

Shelters have also dropped 24-hour services, cut overnight staff at emergency centers and eliminated more comprehensive services like safe visitation centers, where staff members are posted when children are dropped off or picked up as part of custody agreements.

“Our members are struggling to keep their doors open,” said Tara Shabazz, the executive director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, which represents the state’s nonprofit shelters.

In July, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated the remaining financing for the state’s Domestic Violence Program — some $16 million — in the face of a lingering budget gap of nearly $500 million.

Domestic violence is on the rise according to law enforcement in many jurisdictions, due largely to increased frustration and anger regarding economic woes that plague millions of families. So when help is needed the most, many women and their children find that their options have disappeared.

When I think about bailouts for millionaires, this makes my own blood boil. But I will try not to hit anyone…

  • Solara 9

    It boggles the mind. Vulnerable women and children suffer while we taxpayers bail out millionaires.

    Disgusting!

    • oowawa

      It’s cuz battered women and their children aren’t “too big to fail.”

      A walk around the streets of San Francisco has been an eye-opener for over 20 years–the homeless huddled here and there, many talking to themselves, or to God or some other invisible presence. I guess there will now be more abused women among the helpless throngs . . .

      The image is so effective and direct it hurts, Pat.

  • kenoshamarge

    The only thing we need to hit is the voting booths and get rid of every damn politician that cares more about the institutions that fund their party and their campaigns than they do about people.

    Face it folks, neither party gives a crap about us. They just play people that do for the cameras.

    How many lives will be lost, ruined, devastated and destroyed because there is no where to go?

    • Ani

      Agreed.

      Thank you so much for this important article, Pat. It is devastating to see that women are always last on line when it comes to protection against violence. Kristof’s article earlier this year, Is Rape Serious? was likewise a frightening eye opener — that rape kits sit around for up to 10 years without being processed.

  • JohnnyB

    Pat; Great cartoon and exposure of this terrible cut in funding: Domestic (spouse, boyfriend) Violence (beating, stabbing, killing a “loved one”).

    We can’t fund these programs, along with providing Health Care to all; Grants and Loans for College, and other great needs when we have a never-ending Long War going on.

    You can go here and see how much your State and locancommunity has spent on the wars: http://costofwar.com/ This money could have been in the current budget to keep alive these needed programs. Take Action: End the War(s)

  • Don X

    Social programs always seem to be the first to go when money is tight. The shameful cuts to state funding for Domestic Violence includes funding for education and outreach, etc. Our local CA women’s shelters need our help now more than ever.

    A suggestion has been made on a website that if we can’t afford to make a cash donation, then we should clean out our closets, gather up all the toys our kids have out grown and donate them to a local women’s shelter. I would suggest calling first to see what they need before dumping off things they don’t need.

    • Ani

      Great suggestion. Thank you.

  • http://noquarter foxyladi14

    they always cut these programs first.why not cut the pay of those millionaires in government.??

  • Rich

    Wonderful Cartoon. A subject most people do not know about or like to think about.

    We need a law that no more laws can be passed unless along with the law is passed a funding bill. If we are not willing to pass a funding bill specifying the source of the income for the program that cannot later be withdrawn, then let us not make ourselves feel good by passing a law that cannot be enforced as intended.

    If we want better education or “no child left behind,” then pass funding sources. If we believe in three strikes and you are in jail for life, pass funding for new prisons and staff. If we want medical insurance for all, then tell me exactly what new income stream will pay for it instead of how savings by eliminating waste are going to pay for any of it. If the government could have saved us money all of this time and did not, then they should all be replaced because of their incompetency.

    Rich

    • NoBamaNoWay

      it was called “Pay-Go,” remember? during the clinton admin all new spending had to be offset by cuts in something else or some new source of revenue. bush got rid of that rule, and you see the mess we’re in. interesting that with Ozero as POTUS and dem congress they have not decided to reinstate this rule. i don’t know, but i think that hillary might have reinstated it.

  • candymarl

    What’s few dead, injured, or ruined women and children compared to bailing out banks, Wall Street, or even possibly the newspaper industry?

    Really people. Priorities, priorities.

  • Sassy

    Pat, I understand your frustration.
    Nearly every community in every state, however, are strained to the breaking point, and I expect things to get worse.
    We may be grateful that we can continue to provide even basic services for the next year or more. Until we can get people back to work and paying taxes, sadly there will be a lot of suffering.

  • http://www.zoombits.fr/jeux/ jeux educatifs

    Hi…
    When you try to enforce the copyrights through lawsuits you realize how weak the laws are. U think making money off a barter system requires civilized behaviour on both sides and an assumption of trust. Our real problems have less to do with law, but finding a fair and practical means for owners to receive their royalties, directly.

  • TeakWoodKite

    Great toon Pat. I might add that restraining orders are only useful if there is a peace officer present to enfore it.

    My household has a five year no contact against my grandaughters dad. The fact is crazy people have no respect for the law, common decency or humanity, so the paper law doesn’t change the threat landscape much. Control is a dark thing.

    To them who abuse and threaten, they are the victims, as they assault and oppress for control.

    many women and their children find that their options have disappeared.

    .

    many women dissappear shortly after there options do.

    If you replace your phone give the old one to a Womens shelter. They need to know they can call in an emergency and due to the control exerted on them many are with out means to call for help.

  • TeakWoodKite

    Boom Shackalaka , Spam a lamb.

  • http://governmentgrantswomen.com/ TeakWoodKite

    Boom Shackalaka , Spam a lamb.
    BTW I love your blog!

    • TeakWoodKite

      This is not cool, taking my Handle. Find another will ya?!