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Virginia Attorney General Partners With Verizon Wireless for Summit on Domestic Violence in the Workplace

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 October 2006, 09:00 CDT

RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Richmond's business and community leaders will gather to address the deeply insidious problem of domestic violence that infiltrates the workplace. The breakfast summit, jointly sponsored by Verizon Wireless, the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and Commonwealth Attorney General Bob McDonnell, is being convened to commemorate October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The summit will also officially launch the Virginia Department of Social Services' (DSS) new domestic violence awareness campaign, "It's Closer Than You Think," which will include posters to be distributed free of charge to domestic violence programs and businesses across the state. The poster campaign, which is sponsored by the DSS Office of Family Violence, targets bystanders -- the friends, family and co-workers of victims -- by encouraging them to recognize the signs of domestic abuse.

The summit will also include a presentation by Cheryl Kravitz, a domestic violence survivor who works with corporations to help human resource managers recognize the signs of domestic abuse and create programs to help employees feel safe at work.

"Domestic violence is a tragic crime. It destroys families and hurts the most innocent among us," said Attorney General Bob McDonnell. "I am committed to doing all we can to stop domestic violence in Virginia, and I thank all those here today for sharing in this commitment to protect Virginia's families."

Tami Erwin, Verizon Wireless regional president in Washington, Baltimore, Virginia said, "Domestic violence doesn't stay home when its victims go to work. Since domestic violence usually begins at home or another private setting, American businesses have tended to view domestic violence as a personal issue rather than a workplace problem. That's an attitude we can't afford to take."

According to a recent poll from the nonprofit Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, 44% of adults employed full-time surveyed personally experienced domestic violence's effect in their workplaces, and 21% of full- time employed adults identified themselves as victims of intimate partner violence. It is also estimated 25% of workplace problems such as absenteeism, lower productivity, turnover and excessive use of medical benefits are due to family violence.

"Domestic violence affects the workplace when an abuser harasses an employee who is on the job, when a victim is absent because of injuries or less productive because of stress, or when violence occurs at a place of employment," said Anthony Conyers, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Social Services. "Helping employees who are experiencing abuse can be a real challenge for human resource professionals and managers, but it is a challenge worth meeting."

Verizon Wireless is sponsoring the meeting through grant funds from the company's HopeLine(R) program. Marking its 11th year in 2006, the HopeLine program distributes wireless phones to victims of domestic violence, gives financial support to non-profit domestic violence advocacy groups, and provides an environmentally friendly method for recycling phones. No-longer- used phones are collected and either recycled or sold for parts, with wireless phones and/or monetary donations benefiting domestic violence agencies and victims.

Attorney General Donates Phones to HopeLine

Since 2003, the Attorney General's offices across the Commonwealth have been collecting and donating phones to the HopeLine program. At Tuesday's breakfast meeting, the Attorney General will donate another 160 phones to HopeLine. The phones will be recycled to provide future aid to Virginia groups working to prevent domestic violence and to shelter or support victims.

Verizon Wireless also has a longstanding partnership with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, which organized the meeting and administers the state's toll free domestic violence hotline. The Alliance has received dozens of wireless phones, which are used by domestic violence victims, and more than $40,000 in grant funds from both the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program and the Verizon Foundation.

"Domestic violence continues to be a major problem in Virginia, just as it is throughout the country," said Ruth Micklem of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. "But residents of the Commonwealth shouldn't feel powerless to help. In addition to looking for the telltale warning signs of domestic abuse, citizens can make a difference by donating their phones to the HopeLine recycling program so victims can receive the support they need to start new lives."

Since 2001, consumers have donated more than 3 million phones to HopeLine and more than 600,000 phones have been recycled. Verizon Wireless has distributed nearly $10 million in cash and in-kind services to domestic violence prevention and awareness programs across the country. For more information on Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program or for instructions on donating a wireless phone, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 54.8 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com/. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Verizon Wireless

CONTACT: Sherri Cunningham, +1-202-364-5856, or John Johnson,+1-240-568-1429, John.H.Johnson@VerizonWireless.com, both of Verizon Wireless

Web site: http://www.verizonwireless.com/http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline

Source: PRNewswire

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