They describe the horrendous acts of violence that have been perpetrated against them, and the ways the system has fallen short of meeting their needs for safety from physical and psychological torture. It wasn't too long ago that we weren't here at all for any abused women. We used to live in a state with only one shelter for victims. We had no mandatory arrest policy for batterers, no mandatory jail time for abusers, and we did not have vigorous prosecution or supervised visitation centers, much less legal services or specially designed programs, for battered women or perpetrators. We had no community or statewide discussions at all with policymakers or elected officials, and no Crimes Against Women Packages introduced and chased loyally by program providers.
Institutional reform is a lifelong pursuit.
Changing belief systems and institutional practices takes a very long time. I would think we deserve some gratitude for that. It isn't often we see others joining with us to raise funds for the maintenance and growth of our agencies. It takes funds and somebody has to beg for it. There are many improvements still to be made.