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Ohio State University Trains Employees to Identify Domestic Violence

Posted on: Monday, 5 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By Chris Deville, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Dec. 2--Ohio State University has begun training to make its employees more aware of domestic violence and has plans to begin teaching students to recognize relationship abuse.

A campuswide campaign called "Recognize It. Refer It.'' started this week with the training of 35 employees who work in the departments that would handle domestic-violence referrals.

Training was provided by the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence, which contacted Ohio State in August to propose it.

"It just made sense. They're one of the largest employers in our area,'' said Karen Days, president of the coalition.

Businesses are beginning to recognize that domestic violence can hurt their bottom lines, she said. According to the coalition, employers nationwide lose 7.9 million workdays annually to workers who are victims of domestic abuse. Employers also face increased health-care costs and higher risk of violence in the workplace.

Gail M. Heller, executive director of Choices for Victims of Domestic Violence, led the training at OSU, focusing on how to identify people who might be victims and respond appropriately. She emphasized the need to create a workplace where people feel comfortable talking about domestic violence.

Ohio State plans to train about 200 people who will be pass the information on to many of the university's 20,000 other employees.

The coalition also is providing posters and other materials, some of which will be displayed in restroom stalls.

The student campaign on recognizing relationship abuse, starting in the fall, will be the first of its kind at an American university, said Louise Douce, director of OSU's counseling and consultation services and co-chairman of the committee in charge of the campaign.

Huntington National Bank, Kroger and Nationwide are among the companies the coalition has trained, as well as the city of Columbus, some state agencies and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.

Linda Laughlin, director of human resources at Port Columbus, said, "Our people (are) taking the information out into the terminal for people they knew might be having problems,'' she said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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