A Silent Cry for Help is Answered

04/13/2007

Every year, domestic violence leaves many women homeless. Several shelters in the Seattle area take in women and children who flee from abusive relationships. But there's a group of women whose calls for help have gone unanswered. Until recently. The first ever housing facility for deaf victims of domestic violence has opened its doors in Seattle. KUOW's Liz Jones reports.

WHEN OLIVIA LEFT HER ABUSIVE EX-BOYFRIEND, HER PRIORITY WAS TO GET HER SON SOMEWHERE SAFE. IT WASN'T UNTIL MONTHS LATER SHE REALIZED ALL THAT HE'D BEEN THROUGH. HE HADN'T BEEN PHYSICALLY HARMED. BUT HE KNEW BAD THINGS HAD HAPPENED. EVENTUALLY, HE HAD QUESTIONS.

OLIVIA: "And then he said, 'Did he rape you mommy?' and that was really hard for me to answer because he's six years old. But I had to just take that opportunity and answer him, truthfully. And he just kind of looked at me, and he was so quiet. But I knew I probably just changed his world."

THAT'S NOT OLIVIA'S VOICE. IT'S AN INTERPRETER. OLIVIA IS DEAF. BUT SHE ACTUALLY SPEAKS PRETTY WELL. SHE'S ABLE TO TALK WITH HER SON AND THEY ALSO USE SIGN LANGUAGE. HER NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT HER SAFETY AND PRIVACY.

LOOKING AROUND OLIVIA'S APARTMENT, YOU FIND POSTERS BEARING WHAT SHE CALLS HER "SELF-MANDATES". ON HER SON'S BEDROOM DOOR.

OLIVIA: "If there is a better solution, then find it."

AND ON HER BEDROOM WALL.

OLIVIA: "Twenty-one suggestions for successful living. Number one to me is the most important thing—meet the right person."

OLIVIA DISCOVERED HER LAST BOYFRIEND WAS THE WRONG PERSON A FEW MONTHS AFTER THEY MOVED IN TOGETHER. HE WAS MANIPULATIVE. HIS TEMPER WOULD BOIL OUT OF CONTROL. OLIVIA FEARED SHE AND HER SON WERE IN DANGER.

OLIVIA: "I had my phone setup, knew who I could run to, what if locks me in the bedroom, what if hurts my son.that I had kind of set up. And it got worse. And it went straight to hell. And I mean, and fast."

SHE RAN. BUT SOON REALIZED SHE HAD NOWHERE TO GO, AND NO MONEY. SHE STAYED WITH FRIENDS FOR A FEW DAYS. SHE CONSIDERED LEAVING SEATTLE. BUT SHE'D JUST GOTTEN HER MASTERS IN EDUCATION AND WANTED TO FIND A GOOD JOB IN THE AREA.

A FRIEND SUGGESTED SHE CONTACT THE SEATTLE NON-PROFIT AD-WAS. THAT'S SHORT FOR ABUSED DEAF WOMEN ADVOCACY SERVICES. THE PROGRAM WAS STARTED IN 1986 BY A WOMAN NAMED MARILYN SMITH. THE GOAL WAS TO CONNECT DEAF WOMEN WITH COUNSELING AND RESOURCES. SMITH, LIKE OLIVIA, IS DEAF. SHE EXPLAINS THROUGH AN INTERPRETER, THAT AD-WAS WAS THE START OF A MUCH BIGGER VISION.

SMITH: "Many of our clients were going back to their batters because they had no housing. They had no options. They had no other options that were accessible for them. So we decided we needed to fill that gap."

LAST AUGUST, SMITH OPENED WHAT'S BELIEVED TO BE THE ONLY TRANSITIONAL HOUSING IN THE COUNTRY FOR DEAF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

DEAF AND HEARING WOMEN EXPERIENCE THE SAME RATE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. BUT SMITH SAYS IT'S OFTEN MORE DIFFICULT FOR DEAF WOMEN TO GET AWAY FROM THEIR ABUSERS.

SMITH: "A hearing woman can pull up her roots and simply move somewhere else. And find a new community and be anonymous there. That's almost impossible for a deaf woman. They want to stay where their roots are because there aren't that many of us."

THE AD-WAS HOUSING IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR DEAF WOMEN. THE 19 APARTMENTS ALL HAVE SPECIAL TTY PHONES. LIGHTS FLASH WHEN THE PHONE OR DOORBELL RINGS. TV MONITORS LET RESIDENTS SEE WHO'S AT THE DOOR. AND SIGHTLINES ARE OPEN, SO PEOPLE CAN EASILY LIP-READ AND SIGN TO EACH OTHER.

AND SMITH POINTS OUT ONE FEATURE THAT MAKES THE APARTMENTS PARTICULARLY ACCESSIBLE FOR DEAF PEOPLE.

SMITH: "Number one, all of the staff here are deaf or use sign language to communicate. That is absolutely the first imperative. Deaf victims don't like to go into hearing programs because of the communication and isolation. It's horribly lonely for them."

NOT BEING HEARD IS SOMETHING THAT GETS SMITH FIRED UP. IN 1997, SHE SUED THE SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT. SHE WANTED TO IMPROVE HOW OFFICERS RESPOND TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CALLS FROM DEAF PEOPLE. SHE SAYS SOMETIMES THE DEAF WOMEN'S SIDE OF THE STORY WOULD BE STIFLED BY THE ABUSERS WHO COULD HEAR.

BISCH: "I haven't heard of specific cases like that, but I could see that happening."

MARTY BISCH HAS BEEN A SEATTLE POLICE OFFICER FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS – THE LAST FIVE IN THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNIT. HE SAYS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CALLS CAN BE SOME OF THE MOST DANGEROUS. AND COMMUNICATION IN THOSE FIRST FEW MINUTES WHEN POLICE ARRIVE IS CRUCIAL.

BISCH: "When you're able to speak Spanish or use a little sign language, whatever it is, something really little to make that connection.I think it really helps."

BISCH PICKED UP A LITTLE SIGN LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL. HE RECALLS HOW IT HELPED HIM CALM A WOMAN WHO WAS DEAF AND HAD BEEN THREATENED BY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

BISCH: "The big difference was is that she just relaxed. I mean here you have officers come in your home and start asking you questions. And they you can't really communicate with them because you can't speak. And so when she saw that I had some knowledge of sign language. I could just see it. Her whole body language and everything just relaxed more."

BISCH ISN'T A CERTIFIED INTERPRETER. HE JUST HAPPENED TO BE ONE OF THE OFFICERS CALLED TO THAT SCENE. BUT SMITH'S LAWSUIT PUSHED THE DEPARTMENT TO NOW PROVIDE CERTIFIED INTERPRETERS FOR ANY DEAF PERSON WHO DIALS 9-11.

SMITH'S SHELTER PROGRAM IS DRAWING ATTENTION NATIONWIDE. THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEAF WANTS HER TO HELP LAUNCH SIMILAR HOUSING PROJECTS IN 15 OTHER CITIES.

AS FOR OLIVIA, SHE CAN LIVE IN HER SHELTER APARTMENT FOR UP TO TWO YEARS. AND EVEN AFTER SHE AND HER SON MOVE OUT, SHE PLANS TO STAY INVOLVED WITH AD-WAS.

OLIVIA: "A lot of my therapy has really been in this place, in ADWAS. It's amazing. It's overwhelming to see these strong survivors, all women who have been abused. They are survivors."

LIZ JONES, KUOW NEWS.

© Copyright 2007, KUOW