By GRANT SCHULTE
gschulte@dmreg.com
Domestic violence programs in Iowa and the nation have seen more requests for help from victims in the past year, even as tight state budgets have forced service cuts, advocates say.
At the same time, advocates say, some victims who try to leave their partners face difficulty in finding work and other recession-induced challenges that complicate their attempts to survive.
Since 1995, 209 people have been killed in domestic violence in Iowa, according to data compiled by the state attorney general. Women killed by partners accounted for 139 deaths; 24 were men killed by partners; and 46 were bystanders, including children.
The growth of the domestic abuse problem in Iowa was reflected in state Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus' statement to lawmakers in January that petitions for domestic violence protective orders had risen 13 percent over the past year.
Advocates stress that recessions don't cause domestic violence. But they say unemployment, unpaid bills and home foreclosures can inflame already volatile situations.
"It's like pouring gasoline on the fire," said Brian Namey, a spokesman for the National Network to End Domestic Violence in Washington, D.C., a group that pushes for federal legislation and funding that better serve victims.
But abuse victims are often led to believe that they cannot survive without their partners, said Laurie Schipper, executive director of Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The economic downturn reinforces the belief, she said.
Programs that serve abuse victims have seen cuts from government and private sources as their caseloads rise.
The Crisis Intervention Service in Mason City, for instance, has seen a 28 percent increase in traffic since last year, compared with the usual 4 to 7 percent annual growth, executive director Mary Ingham said.
At the same time, the program - which offers shelter and other services to battered women and sexual assault victims in an eight-county region - has seen a roughly $90,000 drop in funding out of its $620,000 yearly budget, Ingham said.
In addition, all 27 domestic violence outreach programs that receive state money were hit last year by Gov. Chet Culver's 10 percent across-the-board budget cut, said Marti Anderson, director of the Iowa attorney general's Crime Victim Assistance Division.
The $340,000 shortfall forced program directors to lay off staff, leave open positions unfilled, reduce hours, and cut travel, worker training and services deemed nonessential, such as help in finding permanent housing.
Other states also have seen domestic violence programs eliminated or reduced, Namey said. In the midst of his state's fiscal crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved last year to eliminate a $16 million state contribution to California's 94 local domestic violence programs.
Schwarzenegger and lawmakers later restored the payments after a public outcry.
Additional Facts
Deaths tied to domestic violence
Four women have died as a result of domestic violence in the Des Moines area in the past eight months, police say:
- Randi Gilmore of Des Moines was shot to death at her home April 5, police said. Her husband, Donte Gilmore, was later charged with first-degree murder.
- Laura Wharff was shot to death in Altoona in January by her husband, Mark, who police say then committed suicide.
- TereseAnn Lynch, an Iowa National Guard soldier, was allegedly shot to death in November by her estranged husband, Randall Todd Moore. Moore allegedly kidnapped Lynch in a mall parking lot, drove her to their former home in northwest Des Moines and shot her, police said.
- Melissa Kay Dean was allegedly beaten to death in southwest Des Moines in September by Christopher Phipps, with whom she lived. Phipps reportedly called police from a strip mall pay phone and said he had accidentally killed his girlfriend. Dean was found with her head beaten and her throat slashed.
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