Growing Need for Women's Shelters
The decision to leave an abusive relationship is one of the most difficult and dangerous decisions a woman in that situation will face. But what happens after she moves out?
"They are left destitute because they have left the breadwinner in the household," said Jane Graham Jennings, the executive director of the Women's Community in Wausau.
She says high unemployment rates, coupled with cuts to state and federal aids in the last couple years, have put battered women's homes in a tough position.
"What we're seeing is every year, at our shelter and shelters around the state, we have to find alternative housing for people or just tell them we don't have space right now because we're full to capacity," Graham Jennings said.
In 2010, the Women's Community lodged 179 women and children, providing more than 3,700 nights of shelter for those in need. Graham Jennings says that's not enough. Women who are transitioning from a shelter to full financial independence need in between economic support as well.
The problem is, there is no transitional housing or subsidized rental plans for battered women in Marathon County, and that's a problem. With no income to support themselves, many women must make the choice to live in poverty or go back to living with their abuser, a trend law enforcement have seen firsthand.
"We do get familiar with the names, and that's concerning," said Robert Wilcox, an officer with Wausau Police and part of the Domestic Abuse Response Team. "But we need to keep reaching out to them and hoping that cycle will be broken."
The Women's Community says preventative measures, like transition programs, can be an important tool in ending that circle of abuse.
"It provides an opportunity for families to really get back on their feet and transition into what most of us think is a normal life," Graham Jennings said.
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