Domestic violence is “a pattern of coercive, controlling behavior that can include physical abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual abuse or financial abuse. It is a pervasive, life-threatening crime that affects thousands of individuals in Connecticut regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, sexual orientation or education,” according to the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV). For fiscal year 2011-2012 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), CCADV provided services to 57,785 Connecticut victims of domestic violence. That staggering number represents only those who sought help, not the total number who suffered at the hands of their abusers.
The services CCADV provided that year included shelter in emergency safe houses for 1,378 adults and 1,018 children who were in serious physical danger with no other place to go. According to Karen Jarmoc, executive director of CCADV, shelters in this state are at capacity “95 to 98 percent of the time.” That’s why recent events in Milford that resulted in the exclusion of a proposed domestic violence shelter from the town are particularly discouraging.
