Vol. 38, No. 18

1-4-2006
By: Joni Bentz Seal

OSU expanding workplace policy

New language to address domestic violence, relationship abuse

Look around. Odds are overwhelming that someone who works with you or for you has been, is or will be a victim of family violence and relationship abuse.

According to the American Institute on Domestic Violence,
74 percent of battered workers are harassed by their partners in the workplace, affecting not only their productivity - to the tune of 7.9 million lost workdays and $3 million to $5 million annually - but the safety of their coworkers.

As one of central Ohio's largest employers, Ohio State is partnering with the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence to maintain a safe working and learning environment for faculty, staff and students.

Louise Douce, director of counseling and consultation service and co-chair of the university's Domestic Violence and Relationship Abuse Committee, said the partnership is prompting Ohio State to update its workplace violence policy to include domestic violence and to make available customized materials that contain university and community services for victims, survivors and batterers. The "Campaign Against Family Violence and Relationship Abuse - Recognize It. Refer It" will launch in January for university employees. A student component, targeting relationship abuse, will be rolled out autumn quarter.

"We hope to take our culture at the university from passive to active in terms of recognizing the signs or symptoms of abuse, reaching out and assisting victims in finding the resources they need to improve their situation," Douce said.

Training sessions, conducted by the coalition, are occurring through February for about 200 staff from human resources, the counseling center, athletics and health and medical services, and will extend to the university's public safety officials, the University Staff Advisory Committee and University Senate. These representatives will serve as the frontline in recognizing the symptoms of abuse and making referrals, and also will impart materials and instruction to others until a few people in every unit are trained.

Resource cards will be distributed in 1,500 restrooms and public spaces around campus, and posters will help build awareness of the campaign and provide information to those who need it, Douce said. A video, with an introduction by President Karen Holbrook, also will be available to departments wishing to conduct mini-training sessions for staff.

"The goal is to teach and encourage caring friends, colleagues and supervisors to broach the matter with a suspected victim and encourage him or her to seek help, not to become therapists. We're trying to instill in people that it is no longer one's private business and that it's more complicated than 'just getting out,'" Douce said.

The other aspect, Douce said, is changing habits that may put victims and their coworkers at risk. "We need to be more cognizant of those relaxed practices of allowing guests to walk through offices unannounced and unchaperoned or of posting private information - such as home address lists - above the office coffee pot. There's a number of things we can do to safeguard someone who's struggling," she said.

Sheryl Clinger, business task force director for the coalition, said Ohio State has the potential to create a model for other colleges and universities. "Building awareness of the carryover of domestic violence into the workplace and relationship abuse that many students experience at college is a big undertaking for an institution with 20,000 employees and 50,000 students," Clinger said. "Fostering an environment that does not tolerate abuse and makes victims comfortable coming forward is not only the right thing to do but serves as an example to organizations who struggle to make a difference in the toll domestic abuse has on a community."

For more information or to seek help, call University Faculty and Staff Assistance at 292-4472 or visit the coalition's Web site at www.TheColumbusCoalition.org.

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