Wyeth Zeff March 18, 2021
8th Grade Humanities Sarah Barlow
The Red Card in the Domestic Violence Shelter System
By Wyeth Zeff
Ruth Glenn, a biracial woman, is the official CEO of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In 1992, months after she fled an abusive marriage, Glenn’s antagonized husband shot her three times, twice in the head, after pulling her over on the side of a road. After leaving her to die, he spent four months on the run from law enforcement before taking his own life. Before taking her experience as a survivor to create her own grassroots domestic abuse advocacy organization, Ruth noticed - that domestic abuse shelters, like our society, are geared towards white people, specifically white women.
Shelters must be available to everyone, but many shelters may not be aware that certain populations cannot access their services. While shelters must be available and supportive for all, domestic abuse survivors who identify as BIPOC can be unsatisfied when seeking comfort and support. As Glenn says “I’m a black woman, and I was in shelter twice. I found it very challenging because, for example, I didn’t have the hair products that I needed.” Ethnic minority women are disproportionately victimized, reflecting not only the domestic violence shelter system but socioeconomically in our overall legal system; “about 88 percent of survivors surveyed by the ACLU said the police did not believe them or blamed them for the abuse due to their ethnic appearance,” according to the New York Times. Women will cease to attempt leaving an abusive partner if services do not feel welcoming. This leaves us wondering: how do we make sure that women of all color have their needs met within the shelter system?
Race, ethnicity, and language should not be barriers to receiving high-quality shelter assistance. Funding is needed to supply shelters with proper products, and their employees with culturally sensitive training. However, the issue of funding has only increased during the pandemic. So what can we do to help grow cultural-specific shelters for women of color? By donating to Ruth Glenn’s organization, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, you are also funding the NCADV’s Women of Color Program, where “radical feminists of color organize to end state violence and violence in homes and communities,” as well as growing the possibilities to educate shelters so that women of color feel comfortable when accessing support. Treatment and intervention efforts must be tailored for the special needs and circumstances of women of color. By doing this, we are not only enhancing our domestic violence shelter systems but empowering women of colors’ voices. As a young woman myself, I will help by volunteering at local cultural shelters, donating, creating fundraisers, and raising awareness; and you should too.
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