Domestic Violence Becoming Employers’ Business
Kathy Evsich recalled that it was more than first-day jitters that kept her on edge when she started working at a bank near her home in Asheville, N.C. That first morning, her husband drove past the bank windows, honking his horn and angrily waving his arms.
Later, he pulled into the bank’s parking lot and sat for hours, staring at Evsich.
On her third day, Evsich said, she arrived at 9:30 a.m. By then, co-workers told her, her husband had called several times, demanding to know where she was and with whom. Her supervisor escorted her into a back room and fired her. It was the second job Evsich had lost because of her husband’s behavior, and she was despondent.
“It was his house. Everything was his. It was his bed. It was his car, you know,” Evsich, 34, said in an interview. “The only thing I could call mine was my job.”
For millions of women--and some men--who suffer from domestic violence, the abusive relationship isn’t confined to home. Realizing this, more employers are responding to increased threats on the job, as well as the low productivity and increased absenteeism that occur because of injuries or other reasons related to domestic violence.
Recently Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and others introduced the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act, which would require employers to provide emergency leave for victims of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault. It also would bar employers from discriminating against them in hiring, firing or promotions. The bill was drafted with help from the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York and the Family Violence Prevention Fund, based in San Francisco.
About 5% of U.S. businesses have domestic violence policies, according to the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, a Bloomington, Ill.-based group formed to promote education on the issue.
Though 5% may seem small, it represents a marked increase from five years ago. Then, only a few companies considered domestic violence any of their business, said Kim Wells, executive director of the alliance.
“It’s catching on,” Wells said.
A draft of the bill quotes a 1998 General Accounting Office report that one-quarter to half of domestic violence victims had lost a job because of the violence. The measure also said 35% to 56% of employed battered women were harassed by their abusers at work.
Previous versions of the act have failed, but supporters hope the current measure at least will highlight the importance of including employers in the fight against domestic violence. Many business groups oppose federally mandated domestic violence policies, saying companies should work with victims individually to accommodate their needs.
Some companies simply distribute posters and brochures. Others, such as clothing manufacturer Liz Claiborne Inc., have policies on specific issues. Some instruct employees on what to do if, for example, a woman reports she’s being stalked, suggesting that supervisors move her desk, give her a new extension and provide photos of the stalker to security guards.
Experts say one of the most important things an employer can do is to be flexible in helping the victim.
“One of the ways in which the batterer tries to maintain control is to stop the victim from becoming economically independent,” said Geoff Boehm, a staff lawyer for NOW Legal Defense, a women’s advocacy group no longer affiliated with the National Organization for Women. “That’s another reason it’s so important for the survivors to be able to keep their jobs.”
Evsich knows that firsthand. She said she used to hide money all over her house, hoping to someday save enough to leave her husband and support her two children. Eventually, her husband moved out of the house. He is serving 27 to 39 years in prison for trying to kill her by running her over with his car and then stabbing her four times.
Some employers say they want to help but wonder how much they can really change.
David Fish, a small-business owner in Pittsburgh, said he asked a domestic violence prevention group to hold an on-site seminar 1 1/2 years ago after one of his supervisors told him about her husband’s attempt to kill her. Fish, whose company assembles electronic devices, said he also keeps material on domestic violence resources in his company’s library.
But he doubts his company’s efforts could help end domestic violence. The woman who first came to him with her story has disappeared; he thinks she’s in hiding. “I hope she’s not dead.”
