HOLIDAYS, RECESSION COMBINE TO WORSEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 2, 1992                   TAG: 9201020038
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
HOLIDAYS, RECESSION COMBINE TO WORSEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
The stress of holidays in the middle of a recession has meant a season of violence for some Virginia families, say directors of shelters for abused spouses.
"From my vantage point, two to three times as many people are requesting help" as last year, said Kate McIntire, executive director of the Virginia Peninsula Council on Domestic Violence.
"It's not only a terrible problem but a growing problem," she said. "It cuts through every racial, ethnic, religious, economic and educational level."
People who help troubled families say the poor economy has added to the usual holiday burdens of households, with money problems compounding the stress of such things as drinking or visits from relatives.
Deborah Downing, a spouse abuse program specialist with the Virginia Department of Social Services, said state shelters in the past year received 30,269 calls for help from abused women and men, their children or even the abusers, 25 percent more than the previous year.
Ruth Micklin, advocacy director of Virginians Against Domestic Violence, said the recession is the main reason for this especially difficult year of spouse abuse.
"There's an increase in sexual assault," she said. "It just seems more sadistic. There's more fear."
The state is trying to improve its data collection on family crimes, said Mark Bowles, an assistant attorney general who is on Attorney General Mary Sue Terry's task force on domestic violence.
He said Terry plans to propose strengthening the state's domestic assault-and-battery law this year to include cohabitants.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB