Seminar addresses domestic violence

Every nine seconds a woman is beaten in the United States, said Jeffrey Gulley in the opening of his speech on domestic violence Friday.\n"Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women each year," Gulley said, who is the former Allen County magistrate judge. "It's a very serious problem."\nAbout 30 people from local businesses and law enforcement attended the seminar on domestic violence in the workplace, called DV-101, held at City Hall Friday morning. The seminar focused on the serious impact of domestic violence on business and its employees and featured speakers including Gulley and the executive director of Middle Way House, Toby Strout.\n"The costs of domestic violence in the workplace are staggering," Gulley said. "Employers lose between $3 and $5 billion ever year in absenteeism, lower productivity, high turnover and health and safety costs associated with battered workers."\nGulley, who is also the president and owner of Safe at Home Training and Consulting, discussed how employers should deal and react to victims of abuse. He stressed a proactive approach by making resources, such as posters and fliers, easily accessible and private.\n"We put (this) information in women's bathrooms, but not just in the bathrooms, we put them in the stalls," Gulley said. "For those who have not yet decided to leave their abusers, it's still a very private matter."\nHe also informed employers of a new law, which allows employers to obtain a Workplace Violence Restraining Order on an employee's behalf, but warned employers to make sure an employee has a safety plan before getting one. He stressed the importance of confronting an employee about signs of abuse, but not demand answers for staying in an abusive relationship.\n"Don't ask 'why' questions, ask 'how can I help?'" Gulley said. "The reason is fear. Victims of domestic violence live in fear."\nMiddle Way House began focusing on services to domestic violence survivors in 1981. It offers women and their children a place to stay, help find a job, childcare and counseling.\n"We offer many supportive services … we've taught people how to repair dry wall," Strout said, "Whatever it takes to make women feel safe on their own." \nAlthough learning how to repair dry wall is not a typical way of recovering from an abusive relationship, Strout said if that is what it takes, then counselors at Middle Way House are prepared help. \nStrout emphasized the seriousness of domestic violence and the importance of talking about the topic.\n"DV is never a single or a simple issue. You start by addressing (DV) and you find layers and layers of problems," Strout said. "When you start talking to people about intimate partner abuse, you hear things that are impossible to believe."\nMiddle Way has also launched several satellite offices around Indiana, which is finding elicit nearly as many phone calls as the Bloomington location. In Greene County, Middle Way has contact with about 100 victims a month, Strout said.\nSandy Garrett of Greene County and office administrator for Technology Service Corporation in Bloomington, said she was attending the seminar because the company was expanding and wants to be prepared if the issue comes up.\n"The statistics are staggering; it's such an important topic for us to be aware of," Garrett said. "We've never had a problem, but you never know."\nFor some, the seminar was more of a brush up and reminder of what can and should be done in situations of domestic violence. Many were all too familiar with the situation and dealt with it every day.\n"I don't need these studies to tell me the number of women who are beaten every year. (From) my own life experience I have years of anecdotal evidence that show (these) statistics are true," Gulley said.\nTeresa Deckard of the Monroe Country prosecutor's office meets with women after having filed a report but before pressing charges. Deckard said she was there to get more ideas for what questions to ask to find out if the women feel safe at work.\nThe seminar lasted about two hours and was free to the public. Between the statistics and anecdotes, most people said they had a much better understanding of the problem and recognize it needs to be addressed.\n"Domestic violence is one of our most generative social problems," Marsha Bradford, director of the Mayor's Safe and Civil City Program, said in a press release. "And it goes to work every single day of the week."\n-- Contact staff writer Lyndsey Williams at lyjwilli@indiana.edu.