October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year many events are being held to also spotlight elder abuse, which is really late-life domestic violence.

The first domestic violence shelters opened some 33 years ago in Arizona. A by-product of the 1970s women’s movement, those first shelters were simply private homes that provided an emergency safe haven for a few women.

With private and public support, many of the small shelters have grown to be large campuses providing much more that just an emergency bed. They now offer counseling, support groups and job training -- empowering women to change their lives. Victims of domestic violence can now find help in nearly every community in Arizona.

Though it is still seriously underreported, domestic violence has come to be treated over the past three decades as a serious crime by the police and courts. It occurs in all cultures. It cuts across the boundaries of education, income, and ethnicity. When a woman is abused by her partner, children who witness the violence are also affected. Growing up in a violent home, they may perpetuate the cycle of violence in their own relationships.

I have worked with the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the State Board of Cosmetology to promote a successful program called "CUT IT OUT" which educates hair stylists to recognize the signs of domestic violence and assist women to find help.

Groups like the Area Agency on Aging have been providing services to older Arizonans for many years, and this agency in Maricopa County is the first to establish a shelter specifically for victims of late-life domestic violence. DOVES assists victims 50 and above to overcome the unique challenges older victims face in attempting to protect themselves and leave their abusers.

The economic recession is having an impact on domestic violence and elder abuse. Victims of domestic violence are sometimes trapped in their situations due to the bad economy. The severity of violence tends to increase during stressful economic times. And due to the bad economy, victims who are in shelters are having a harder time finding jobs or affordable housing.

The Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence is also concerned about potential budget cuts. Great progress has been made in recent years toward the goal of ending shelter turn-aways and waiting lists. That has been largely a result of the Legislature’s supporting increases to the domestic violence line item. We don’t want to reverse that progress.

I hope the increased awareness of domestic violence this month will also help bring late-life domestic violence and elder abuse out of the shadows. Protecting our older citizens depends on all of us. Together we can help all Arizonans live without fear of intimidation, neglect or abuse.

Terry Goddard
Attorney General