Domestic Violence in the Workplace Facts:

• Of adults surveyed, 44 percent personally experienced the effects of domestic violence's in their workplaces (Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence)

• Domestic violence victims lose a total of nearly $8 million days of paid work each year – the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs. (Centers for Disease Control)

• American businesses experience nearly $2 billion in productivity loses each year. (Family Violence Prevention Fund)

The Soroptimist Workplace Campaign to End Domestic Violence:
Keeping Women Safe at Work

After years of enduring domestic abuse, Ellen flees from her husband, Paul. She moves in with a friend and changes her personal phone number and email address. Soon Ellen begins receiving threatening phone calls and emails at work. Then one day she finds Paul waiting for her in the office parking lot where he threatens to kill her unless she returns. Ellen doesn’t know who to turn to or where to go. For years, she has been hiding the abuse from her friends, family, coworkers and employers.

When a woman is being abused at home by her domestic partner, she does not leave the abuse behind when she leaves for work. Established in 1994, the Soroptimist Workplace Campaign to End Domestic Violence is an ongoing effort to raise awareness about a seldom addressed domestic violence issue: domestic violence as a workplace concern.

The Soroptimist Workplace Campaign to End Domestic Violence is a comprehensive campaign providing information, materials and support specifically designed for employees who are the target of domestic abuse, their co-workers and their employers.

As part of the campaign, Soroptimist has developed:

• Instructions for participating in the Soroptimist Workplace Campaign to End Domestic Violence
• Keeping Women Safe at Work hotline cards
• Guidelines for implementing domestic violence workplace polices, including sample policies
• Fact Sheet about the Soroptimist Workplace Campaign to End Domestic Violence
• Sample publicity materials to promote the campaign
• White paper on domestic violence in the workplace
• Links for additional resources, including support services for victims of domestic violence

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