WUNRN
Czech
Republic - Preventing Domestic Volence Benefits Us All
The Prague Post
April 9, 2008
By Gwendolyn Albert
A
few weeks ago, a sad story ran in the Czech press about the daughter of
well-known contemporary author, Ondřej Neff. Missing since late February,
the body of Irena Neffová Nováková was finally discovered in March when her
husband, Robert Neff Novák, led police officers to her burial site.
In a
media interview, Ondřej Neff said that, while legally the presumption of
innocence still applies, he has no doubt, based on the police investigation,
that his son-in-law is guilty of his daughter’s murder.
The
maximum sentence awaiting Neffová Nováková’s murderer is 15 years in prison.
The
tragic end to this story is not unusual, nor is it unusual that the victim’s
family was completely unaware that she had previously been treated several
times for injuries caused by her husband.
As
the press noted, this was a “classic” case of domestic violence — kept
carefully, painstakingly hidden from even the closest “outsiders” by both the
victim and the perpetrator.
In
recent years, due to the tireless efforts of many nonprofit groups dedicated to
helping domestic violence victims around the country, the Czech state has
finally taken a few steps toward addressing this serious social problem.
Legislation
addressing the issue continues to develop and provide the police and the courts
with more options. State-funded domestic violence intervention centers are
being established, and the domestic violence prevention committee of the Czech
Government Council for Equal Opportunities has recently issued guidelines under
which batterers might be able to receive therapy to unlearn their violent
behavior. Such programs, however, are still in their infancy.
Unfortunately,
this relatively recent rise in concern for this issue at the government level
has not coincided with an increase in the volume of funding for the nonprofit
groups that have been tirelessly addressing this issue for a decade or more.
Resources
at the European Union level, the national level, the regional level and the
local level, as well as those from private foundations, remain woefully
inadequate in terms of meeting the demand for services to victims.
Indeed,
even after a decade of developing their skills in this area, some organizations
report the money flow has been so dramatically restricted that they face being
unable to pay experienced professionals on their staffs.
Despite
the large volume of victims they currently serve, they may have to cut back on
their operations and resort to volunteers to keep their doors open.
Imagine
being cut off from your attorney in the middle of a court case, or from your
counselor during a course of psychological therapy. Imagine no one answering
the crisis line you finally got up the courage to call, or the e-mail you were
finally brave enough to send. Every time a nonprofit group has to cut back on
these services, the lives of hundreds of women are affected.
One
such organization is Persefona, o.s. (Persefona.cz).
Located
in Brno, its team of lawyers and psychologists is carrying on the legacy of a
program that first began as part of the Environmental Law Service 10 years ago.
For
years, this group was the only full-time provider of legal and psychological
counseling to domestic violence victims in the entire south Moravian region.
Despite various organizational changes over the years necessitated by the
challenges familiar to everyone in the nonprofit sector, those working for
Persefona have managed to create a group that offers professional,
comprehensive, direct assistance to domestic violence victims.
By
taking that courageous first step to contact Persefona and other groups like
it, hundreds of women like the late Irena Neffová Nováková have been spared her
fate.
For
a domestic violence victim to extricate herself from her situation, she must be
able to find a supportive environment, a place where she will be received without
prejudice, find safety, and be able to tell her story.
Women
call the crisis intervention hotline at the Persefona organization when their
situations are so dire they are considering committing suicide to spare
themselves further suffering.
With
the help of the professional counselors there, they manage to find their
way into a better life.
Governments
reasoning in terms of financial outlays rarely take into consideration the
positive economic impact of the preventive work of such nonprofit service
providers. It is hard to calculate the cost of ambulances that do not need to
be sent to a suicide or a murder, the emergency rooms that do not need to
perform costly miracles at the last minute or the police work that does not
need to be done when violence goes uncommitted.
Groups
such as Persefona, however, save lives every day — not in the dramatic last
moments when things have progressed too far but by helping the victims escape
before it is too late.
Public
and private donors need to revive their commitment to eradicating domestic
violence in this society and invest in those who know how to make a difference
in the way that ultimately matters most: one life at a time.
—
The author is the director of the Women’s Initiatives Network at the Peacework
Development Fund in Prague.
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