Today, our mission has expanded to include services to victims of sexual assault, including an abuse prevention program. First Step also owns our First Step Family Store that offers clothing and household items to our clients at no charge and is open to the public two and one half days a week. This is important in our community because without our program, victims would have no other alternative for assistance. The F.B.I. states that one-third of all female homicide victims are killed by their husbands or boyfriends. Findings of a 1990 statewide incidence study of domestic violence in Texas indicated that 612,738 Texas women were physically abused in 1989 alone.
Sexual assault is an equally serious problem in Wichita county.
The Wichita Falls Police Department estimates that a sexual assault occurs everyday in Wichita Falls, and researchers state that one out of three women and one out of four men will be sexually assaulted once in their lifetime. They further estimate that one in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually molested by the age of 18. Additionally, the adverse circumstances which bring them to our agency tends to make the mothers preoccupied with their own situations and less adept at taking care of their children. The First Step Children s Program works to reduce these obstacles for our families. First Step is also working in collaboration with the District Attorney s Office through our Staircase Project.