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Full-Time Positions Available
Case Manager: Provide case management services (assessment, treatment planning, discharge) to battered women residing in the emergency domestic violence shelter. Facilitate domestic violence support and education groups. Provide backup coverage for shelter duties. Responsible for periodic weekend on call and providing services at least one evening per week. Monitor client outcomes, satisfaction.
Bachelor's Degree and LSW required. Cultural Competency also required. EOE
Outreach Worker:Based 32 hours per week at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio. Conduct domestic violence education & support groups (approximately 10 per week) to inmates in all programs; assess potential group members; educate prison staff. 8 hours per week spent at the emergency domestic violence shelter providing backup, community education, and support groups. Periodic weekend on call and at least one evening per week required.
Bachelor's Degree preferred. Domestic violence and/or prison setting experience required. Cultural Competency required. EOE
Childcare Position:20-24 hours per week. Mixture of daytime and evening hours and availability for special events scheduled on weekends. Background in family and child development preferred. EOE
Send resume, and cover letter indicating position interest to:
CHOICES, P.O. Box 06157, Columbus, Ohio 43206
Part-Time Positions Available
House Manager Position: Work 8 hour shifts - overnights, weekends and holidays staffing the emergency shelter and crisis hotline. Monitor safety and security systems, manage basic shelter functions, attend to personal care needs of residents, monitor sleeping and bath areas, provide support and information for residents. Ability to provide information and referrals to both residents and callers. Cultural competency and sensitivity to women's issues needed. High School diploma or GED required. This is a great position for college students wanting human service experience. Due to access and sensitive nature of the position, only female applicants can be considered.
Send resume, and cover letter indicating position interest to:
CHOICES, P.O. Box 06157, Columbus, Ohio 43206
Domestic Violence at Work
A 27 year-old mother of two was shot dead in the car park at work by her ex-boyfriend. Their relationship had been abusive and physically violent. In another case, a woman separated from her husband had begun a new relationship with a colleague. The husband found out, followed his estranged wife to work, shot and killed her, shot and seriously wounded the colleague and then turned the gun on himself. Both cases occurred in the United States. Extreme examples, maybe, but they highlight the global problem of domestic violence and how it can spill over into the workplace.
Worldwide, it is thought that 5% of health-years of life are lost by women because of domestic violence. According to the US Department of Justice, there were 588,490 incidents of abuse of women by current or former partners in the US in 2001. In the UK, there are an estimated 574,000 reported incidents of domestic violence every year. A quarter of all women in the UK are thought to experience domestic violence at some time in their lives, yet, on average, a woman will be assaulted 35 times by a partner or ex-partner before reporting to the police. Between 5% and 15% of victims of domestic violence are men.
These figures give a chilling account of a social issue that blights the lives of many people for years. But domestic violence does not stop at the front door. As the above cases illustrate, domestic violence can travel to work, with appalling consequences. However, the workplace may also provide an opportunity and confidential environment to give support to victims (and information on rehabilitation counseling for employees concerned about their own behavior at home).
Speaking at the American Occupational Health Conference in May*, Patti Rutter, head nurse at Bank One Corporate Center in Columbus, Ohio, said that 37% of women who had experienced domestic violence reported that it had an impact on their work - manifested in reduced performance, lateness, missed work, or problems with job retention or promotion. Domestic abuse can continue at work through abusive telephone calls and emails, and through personal visits by the abuser - in the US, 74% of employed battered women were harassed at their workplaces. According to Rutter, victims of domestic violence will miss three days' work every month - equivalent to 1,750,000 days annually in the US.
Rutter is working with Gail Heller of the Columbus-based Choices for Victims of Domestic Violence in developing a "model workplace programme" on managing domestic violence. Heller says: "In taking a proactive approach to address the possibility of domestic violence in the workplace, management begins the process of protecting personnel, property and the reputation of its workplace. Companies need to make decisions about how they will respond to domestic violence, considering it a part of their workplace violence policy. The best strategy is to build on early intervention and awareness education." Crucially, the programme must encourage workers to come forward, and must guarantee commitment and confidentiality from the employer.
UK employers are also being called on to address domestic violence as a workplace issue. Last month the GMB union launched a new "pledge card" campaign across Birmingham and the West Midlands to raise awareness of domestic violence and how the problem effects the workforce. The GMB urges employers to sign a joint agreement with the trade union that outlines action and commitment in dealing with domestic violence in the workplace.
The union wants a domestic violence policy in every GMB-recognised workplace. According to its regional equal rights officer Pauline Hinks: "The workplace is the ideal venue to raise awareness, to provide information and support, to assist people in need to access the support they need, and to enable victims of domestic violence to gain control and make choices. We believe employers can do more to assist and are willing to do more. Our job is to provide them with the necessary information and support and encourage them to take the matter seriously."
Domestic violence is a complex issue and one that cannot be tackled without training and access to specialist support networks such as the Women's Aid Federation of England. However, occupational health teams will have a central role to play in implementing domestic violence policies and providing the confidential route to information and support required by the victims of abuse. According to Rutter, through their health-screening functions, OH professionals may be able to "identify patterns of possible abuse"; they can also help to educate the workforce on domestic violence issues, provide information materials and, where appropriate, refer victims or perpetrators to specialist counselors and services.
According to Rutter: "Only when we abate domestic violence are we going to
eliminate its impact in the workplace."
john.ballard@irseclipse.co.uk
*American Occupational Health Conference, 2-9 May 2003, Atlanta, GA USA
Copyright Occupational Health Review
Reproduced with permission from Occupational Health Review - Issue 104 (July/August)
2003.