Bad Economy Leads to Crisis in Family Violence

September 3, 2009

Today, National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill said that the recent dramatic rise in incidents involving domestic violence, family murder-suicides and child abuse amounts to an urgent national crisis. To address the recession-fueled increase in violence, O'Neill called for activists to take action to protect funding for domestic violence, sexual assault, child welfare and mental health program services.

O'Neill urged activists, "Check your state's budget to see if any domestic violence/sexual assault programs are facing severely reduced budgets. If so, tell your governor and state legislators that this is not acceptable. Too many women and children are at risk with the added stresses of a poor economy, job losses and housing foreclosures."

Details on the crisis are described in-depth here. Contact information for governors is listed on the National Governors Association's website and to look up state legislators, go to the National Conference of State Legislatures' website.