Womenspace seeks volunteers for holiday season
Because of higher stress
at this time of year,
women are more likely to
be abused and need help
By Felicity Ayles
Oregon Daily Emerald
Tiie holiday season is tradi
tionally a time of joy, giving and
general merriment. But unfortu
nately, it is also the time of year
that brings the most tension, ac
cording to Womenspace domes
tic violence services.
The organization has begun its
training for additional crisis line
volunteers during the holiday
season.
Womenspace is a 20-year-old
organization devoted to empow
ering people through education
al services and crisis lines to help
put an end to domestic violence,
said Bandana Shrestha, volunteer
program coordinator.
Domestic violence can be sex
ual, physical and verbal, but
there is not one type of violence
more prevalent during the holi
day season, she said. Emotional
violence is often the most under
estimated.
The organization has three
main services. Emergency ser
vices include a shelter and a 24
hour crisis line staffed entirely by
volunteers. The community ser
vices program includes an advo
cacy center with in-depth sup
port groups that provide
community education. Finally,
the organization offers transition
al services, which include find
ing alternate housing for victims.
“Volunteers are a very impor
tant part of our program,”
Shrestha said.
Crisis line volunteers for this
holiday season do not need to
have any experience and are spe
cially trained to handle a large
number of calls, Shrestha said.
“The training is geared to
“A lot of people are
stressed around the
holiday season. But stress
does not cause violence,
it is just a contributing
factor. ”
Rebecca Peatow
ASUO Women's Center
wards giving people the skills
they need to end domestic vio
lence,” she said.
Although most of the callers
are women, Shrestha said anyone
can call with issues about domes
tic violence. Children whose par
ents are having problems can
call, and the organization will re
fer them to the proper services.
Womenspace has had an ongo
ing relationship with the Univer
sity through fund raising and stu
dent volunteers, she said. Rebec
ca Peatow, office manager for the
ASUO Women’s Center, said
there is unfortunately no way of
monitoring the number of Uni
versity students who use the or
ganization’s services or volunteer
for the programs.
Peatow said the largest part
nership between the University
and Womenspace at the moment
is the creation of a campus task
force focused on dating violence,
or abuse within a relationship.
The task force includes
Peatow, members of the law
school, staff in the Office of Stu
dent Life and Womenspace vol
unteers.
“We are trying to create a col
laborative response to dating vio
lence,” Peatow said. 9
The organization and the
women’s center also gets togeth
er for activities in October, which
is domestic violence awareness
month, she said.
The holiday season may be
busy for the organization, but
Peatow said the holidays are the
most quiet time of year for the
women's center because most of
the students are gone.
“Fall and spring are our
busiest times, at the beginning
and end of the year,” she said.
Shrestha said holiday stress
can be an important factor in
contributing to all forms of do
mestic violence.
“A lot of people are stressed
around the holiday season,” she
said. “But stress does not cause
violence, it is just a contributing
factor.”
Womenspace is planning an
other training session for Jan. 9
and 10. This session will train
volunteers for all aspects of the
organization. Call 485-7262 for
information.
Public safety
Continued from Page 1
County Youth Services, said the failure of
the measures will not affect the completion
of the facility, but only 36 of the projected
100 beds will be built.
The building is scheduled for occupancy
sometime in the fall of 1999, Ryer said.
Funding without the measures will not
allow for a residential program for girls or
the implementation of a transition center,
he said.
On the 1995 ballot, Lane County Youth
Services asked voters only for construction
money for the structure, knowing it would
take three or four years to build, Ryer said.
“Until we had the building design, there
was no way to know how much it would
cost to run," he said.
When youth services asked for addition
al funding on this fall’s ballot, Measure 20
OS was very comprehensive, he said.
The measure included funds for secure
detention, drug and alcohol abuse treat
ment facilities, two courtrooms for juvenile
justice, office space for the probation staff
and training rooms for competency classes,
Ryer said.
But because the measures didn’t pass, all
of those programs might not be available.
The Lane County youth services is even
considering renting out some of the unused
space to the Oregon Youth Authority, Ryer
said.
“It is a major setback in accomplishing
our master plan,” he said.
Interim Eugene Police Chief Jim Hill said
the council is going to do some polling to
try and understand the vote, especially be
cause Measure 20-06 failed by only seven
votes.
“We are going to try and understand
what the vote represented,” he said. “The
council supports the idea of doing a post
election poll to get some answers.”
The juvenile justice center will not be
running at full capacity, which would be
necessary to maintain youth intervention
programs, Hill said.
The community clearly stated it wants
youth violence-prevention programs, and
there are currently deficits in the county’s
ability to respond to youth issues, he said.
The council is disappointed and con
cerned about public safety and must move
forward as a group to solve these problems,
Hill said.
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