Women's Shelters

A safe place for women to recover from physically emotionally abusive relationships...

military domestic violence

Mileage from Denver to the Northern Colorado community of Fort Collins ranges from 65 to 75 miles, yet that didn't prevent an abused woman walking from a hospital's ICU ward in South Denver to Crossroads Safehouse in Fort Collins - wearing only slippers and the clothes she had worn in the hospital.

It's not publicly known why she walked so far from Denver, which also has women's shelters, but one can easily imagine, given the stories of so many other battered women, that she wanted to be as far from her abuser as physically possible.

The U.S. has about 2000 domestic violence programs. Many of these programs, like Crossroads, offer both emergency and transitional housing options for both women and their children. As so many other women who seek out these programs, this woman walked miles to escape an untenable situation, receive housing assistance, counseling, and many other services designed to help her rebuild her life.

Domestic Abuse Resources

The number of victims requiring services for domestic violence and abuse is staggering. On one day alone in 2008, over 20,000 victims of domestic violence and their children fled their homes because they feared for their lives, according to the National Network To End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).

And each year, the NNEDV conducts a 24-hour survey to capture a snapshot of the extent of this growing problem. On Sept. 17, 2008, it reported that 30,433 domestic violence victims found refuge in emergency shelters or transitional housing provided by local domestic violence programs. Another 30,366 adults and children received non-residential assistance and services, such as individual counseling, legal advocacy, and children's support groups.

Emergency and transitional housing options are available depending on an organization's resources. Some use converted houses in neighborhoods as safe houses, some build special houses and facilities, still others offer emergency housing in the houses of trained volunteers and hosts. A battered woman entering emergency housing or a shelter gets immediate help and assistance on the first step toward recovery - leaving her batterer and her community. This often includes severing contact with family members because perpetrators will often contact and threaten friends and family members to reveal the location of victims.

After a period of time, a victim and her children are moved into transitional shelters. These facilities still provide a safe environment while offering numerous services and programs to help women begin to recover a sense of "self," and become independent. Job training, nutrition workshops, and individual and group counseling are part of transitional housing services, in addition to classes on parenting skills, computer-skills classes, and many others.

Most transitional housing facilities also have services for children, those who were also abused, or those who witnessed their fathers abusing their mothers.

Transitional shelters are set up to offer women and their children a "home-like" environment. They live in private rooms with enough beds, and some shelters have apartment-like layouts with private baths and kitchens. Others have shared bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms.

Some transitional units, such as those provided by Safe Horizon, the largest provider of domestic violence services in the country, and New York City’s largest provider of domestic violence residences , also have dedicated playrooms for the children.

Safe Horizon operates 500 emergency housing units where a woman and her children can stay for up to 90 days (with the possibility of an extension of an additional 45 days) before moving to transitional housing where they can remain for six months.

Because security is a main concern for all domestic violence shelters, many have security systems, and security offices in the entrances. At Safe Horizon's shelters, there are people on duty 24 hours a day who are trained to respond to emergency situations, and who are able to closely monitor access to the building, according to the organization's website. The staff can also offer emergency counseling to shelter residents who need to talk at hours when children and others are sleeping.

Domestic violence counselors (see Domestic Violence Counselor), social workers (see Social Work Careers), victim's advocates, and child abuse counselors, therapists and psychologists (see Child Abuse Counselor, Child Welfare Social Worker and Child Psychologist) are all employed at shelters, and in the organization's offices and centers located in separate facilities. Volunteers who also complete domestic violence training also work at both the shelters and the offices and community facilities.

As many women and children continue to struggle and suffer through physical, emotional, psychological, religious, financial, and a number of other types of abuse, the need for mental health workers trained in domestic violence grows. Request information from schools offering degrees in psychology to prepare you for a career in this rewarding and challenging career.