The September 11th attack
Women's shelters note surge in calls
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Their business fell into a sudden free fall in the days that followed Sept. 11, and that's when the abuse got worse.
The woman, in her 40s, doesn't want to talk about exactly how bad the violence became after Sept. 11. "I just didn't feel safe at home, anymore," she said in a whisper.
She turned to one of the four shelters on O'ahu, where there is so little room since the terrorist attacks that women and children sometimes sleep on mattresses on the floor.
The Domestic Violence Clearinghouse is getting 50 more calls a week — on top of the usual 100 or so calls each week. More women are seeking help for domestic violence since Sept. 11. But the reasons why aren't always clear.
Part of it might be increased anxiety and uncertainty in the home following the attacks. Or it could be linked to the sudden rise in unemployment as the tourism and airline industries struggle.
"Some of this is about layoffs, obviously, but some of it is angst and feelings of powerlessness," said Nanci Kreidman, executive director of the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse. "If I feel powerless to do something and I feel afraid of what's going on in the world, the one place I might be able to gain a measure of control and power is over my wife and kids, through force and being violent."
Some of the women who sought out help at shelters may have simply decided that they had to change their lives after Sept. 11.
"The whole country was under attack and some women decided, 'I'm not doing this anymore,' " said Ginny Lott, who runs the domestic abuse shelters and transitional apartments program for Child and Family Service. "One woman told me that if she was not going to live very long because of all of the terrorism, she was not going to live the rest of her life in domestic violence."
So far, the increase in calls and women seeking shelters has been limited to O'ahu.
Carol Lee of the Hawai'i State Coalition Against Domestic Violence polled her organization's 23 programs across the state and found no change on the Neighbor Islands. "Maybe they feel safer from terrorism on the Neighbor Islands," she said.
Lt. David Kamai of the Honolulu Police Department's family violence detail has not seen a significant increase in arrests. But that doesn't surprise Lee of the statewide anti-domestic violence coalition.
She estimates that 50,000 women in Hawai'i are trapped in abusive relationships.
"Only a small percentage of domestic violence is ever brought to the attention of police," Lee said. "And only a small percentage of domestic violence cases ever get to service providers."
In an odd twist, the Sept. 11 attacks may have offered victims a temporary reprieve from the violence.
Calls to domestic violence hotlines fell off in the days after the attack. Shelters had empty beds.
Everyone may have been stunned by the TV images. And some women may have decided their lives weren't so bad compared to the victims of the terrorist attacks, Lott said.
Then, in the days that followed Sept. 11, the number of callers and requests for shelter suddenly jumped.
With fewer jobs available, people who work with victims worry that the violence will increase in November, when the first wave of welfare recipients will be required to find jobs.
Exceptions will be made for women who can prove they're victims of abuse. But that doesn't help those who have yet to get help.
"Victims often say they stay in abusive relationships because they are not economically sufficient," Kreidman said. "They may not leave dangerous abusers because they are unable to support themselves and their children."
After nearly a month in a shelter, the businesswoman who decided to leave her abusive husband has gone back to work at her company, and business is back to 80 percent of what it was before Sept. 11. But life has changed. She hopes to find a place of her own soon.
"It's OK, but it's not the same," she said. "Nothing's like it was before."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
