Document 5A: Statement of Diane Stuart, Director, Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse, Chair, Domestic Violence Advocacy Council, Department of Human Services, Logan, Utah, Senate Hearing 103-726, 13 April 1993. Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 103rd Congress, First Session on The Problems of Violence Against Women in Utah and Current Remedies, Salt Lake City, Utah. Serial No. J-103-11.

Document 5A: Statement of Diane Stuart, Director, Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse, Chair, Domestic Violence Advocacy Council, Department of Human Services, Logan, Utah, Senate Hearing 103-726, 13 April 1993. Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 103rd Congress, First Session on The Problems of Violence Against Women in Utah and Current Remedies, Salt Lake City, Utah. Serial No. J-103-11.

Introduction

       Turning Point, Volunteer Advocates for Victims of Domestic Violence, and Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse (CAPSA) were three local organizations specializing in domestic violence in Utah. Like the YWCA, they dealt with the consequences of domestic violence. These domestic violence organizations revealed the seriousness of the problem at the local community level. They demonstrated the need for money, education, and meaningful legislation. In her prepared statement to the senate, Diane Stewart of CAPSA described how federal action could help "Federal priorities 'set the tone' for state priorities which, in turn, focus the posture and direction of local energies and resources. Those in Federal Leadership must take a firm stand against domestic violence and sexual assault." Barbara Wood of Turning Point focused on domestic violence in rural Utah (see Document 5B and Document 5C), while Karen Nielsen of Volunteer Advocates for Victims of Domestic Violence focused on medical protocol and health care needs of victims of domestic violence (see Document 5D).

STATEMENT OF DIANE STUART

        Ms. STUART. Thank you, Senator. It's a pleasure for me to be here this afternoon. Quite a few things have gone through my mind as to what I should say today, but as I listened to our last speaker, I finally came to the conclusion that I need to talk a little bit about the coalitions that can be formed throughout the State.

       Several, actually I think it was just a couple of weeks ago I was watching a news report of the commander in Somalia, and he was trying to tell the reporter there what he was doing and took her through a lot of what was happening there, and he brought her to the point where the trucks had brought in the bags of grain and they were sitting in bags over here on his left, and then over here on his right he had an individual that was sitting and she was putting the grain out of these large bags into smaller containers and giving them to the individual people in the line, and he showed that to this reporter to distingish the difference between delivery and distribution. He turned to the large bags that had just been brought in by the trucks and he said this is delivery, and then he turned to the woman who was putting the grain into the smaller bags and he said this is distribution, and he put his finger up and he said there's a difference, and I think for all that we're doing on a national level, on a State level, there's a difference between delivery, moneys, personnel, programs, whatever it may be, and distribution.

       It's not easy for individuals who are on the front line, wherever they may be, to do what they do. There's a tremendous amount of burnout, there's a tremendous amount of pressure on them. They do what we all do. We personalize what we hear. We hear these stories and a little bit of us is involved in that, a little bit of us is part of the story because that could be us, or what would we do in that situation, how would we react? We make it very personal, and when we do that, we make it very difficult to do a good job where we are.

       Money is not getting to where it needs to go. It's not being distributed. It's coming down it's been appropriated, but it's not getting out to the areas. It's being pulled for other very good things, but not to where it's supposed to go. We're right now putting together traning. We're going to go to every single county in the State, some of them we're bringing the counties together, but there will be 17 trainings. These trainings are to train the individuals in the coalitions that you kind of spoke of, the prosecutors, the law enforcement, the shelter people, the treatment people, the hospitial people from that specific area, and try to help them enhance the program that they're already doing or that they're trying to do. We're not doing it with very much money. We're putting in money from the prosecution office, from social services, and the people that are going out aren't being paid for their time in most cases, or they're being paid on a very minimal thing.

       That's one very basic thing that we could do that would be this prevention process, this education process that we've talked and heard so much about today. We need to help the individual areas solve the problem in that area. Only they know where the problems are. We don't know in Logan what the problems are in Ogden, and Ogden dosen't know all the problems in Richfield or in Moab, which had closed down for a week because they simply did not have the funds to continue, and the city was so taken aback by that that they were able to lend their support and they were able to reopen with the city support. More cities should take ownership in what's happening, more cities ought to become part of it.

       We brought this wonderful visual aid. Le Roy insisted that bring it, and that I tripped all over it all day, but it kind of shows the components of exactly what can be going on. Something that we've talked about is not on here, and that's schools, so there's more. This isn't complete. This is just the beginning. We need to do more. And the key thing I think is that we need to work together. Thank You.

       Senator HATCH. That's great. I also have this sheet that you prepared, and I think it's just excellent, the two sheets that you've given to us from CAPSA, Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse.

       Ms. STUART. That, Senator, is two forms or two sheets that are being used by individuals working with domestic violence all over the United States. It came out of the Duluth, MN, program.

 

 
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