It helps to train people to recognize the symptoms when they see it. It helps people, perhaps most important of all, to take appropriate, systematic steps to prevent it. Since 1996, this hotline has given more than 500,000 people a place to call to find help when they need it most. The Act has offered hope to countless numbers of women by letting them know they are not alone. Police officers who often shy away from so-called family squabbles should now get involved.
Physical violence is unacceptable in our homes.
The law's impact is no clearer than here in Sante Fe, where the Act and its much needed funding has helped make the city's streets, schools and homes safer. With the Act's help, Connie and her Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families provided counseling and shelter to nearly 2,000 families last year. With the Act's help, eight northern Indian pueblo councils here in Santa Fe now have the means to give legal advice and victims counseling to native American women, and proper training to tribal police departments, courts and prosecutors. With the Act's help, the Morning Star Program in Albuquerque provides safe houses and support groups for victims and their families. Well, thanks to your work in programs like the ones here in Santa Fe, we know that the Violence Against Women Act is having a real impact on domestic abuse.