DANA offers options to battered partners

When it comes to domestic violence, it would seem that all of the news and data available are anything but positive.

Nationally, battering is the leading cause of injury to women ages 15 to 44 — more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined. Every day four women are killed by intimate partners.

In North Carolina alone, 17,872 cases of domestic violence were reported in 1999 and law enforcement and domestic violence programs in the state served 39,469 clients.

In this county, the local law enforcement center's dispatch logs show that 853 domestic disturbance calls were received in 2000, a 39 percent increase from 1996, when only 336 such calls were received.

However, DANA (Domestic Abuse is Not Acceptable) is working to help those affected in our county. DANA has served more than 100 clients since being formed in February of 2000, and served more than 10 from January until February of this year.

In keeping with its mission of helping women escape violent situations, the organization has opened a shelter in the county to accommodate victims of violence and their children. Prior to the opening of this shelter, victims of violence were usually referred to Oasis in Boone.

The shelter's location is not being published to protect its integrity. The emergency shelter opened in January and provides more than just a warm, dry place to sleep and food to eat. While in the shelter, clients are referred to other agencies for assistance and are put on a ‘fast track' for getting their lives back in order. Assistance with finding employment, finding permanent housing and getting other aid is provided through DANA.

When the local emergency shelter is not available, DANA Director Ellen Wright then works with surrounding counties to help find a place for victims of domestic violence to stay temporarily.

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