CITY, WOMEN HELPING WOMEN PARTNER ON NEW WORKPLACE GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE TRAININGS, ENHANCED POLICIES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City to Promote National Domestic Violence Awareness Month via Social Media Campaign
CINCINNATI – Ahead of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October, the City of Cincinnati is partnering with Women Helping Women (WHW) to address gender-based violence and the tremendous impact it can have on workplaces across the country.
Women Helping Women, through WorkStrong™, a workplace-oriented program designed to train employees on recognizing the signs of gender-based violence, developed a series of trainings for City employees and helped the Administration evaluate and strengthen resources available to affected staff members.
WHW also helped the City reinforce its existing Violence in the Workplace policy by adding more specific language on topics such as domestic/intimate partner violence and sexual assault, concealed carry rules, and the circumstances surrounding the availability of employee information. This version of the policy also more explicitly outlines what an employee should do if they feel threatened and how the City should respond to these matters.
“Our partnership with the City of Cincinnati working with City Council has truly been groundbreaking; the City’s changes in policy around empowering and protecting its 6,000 employees has created a true pathway of support,” noted Kristin Smith Shrimplin, President and CEO of Women Helping Women, the leading regional resource for the prevention of gender-based violence. “Through WorkStrong™, all City employees now have the support, resources and connections to Women Helping Women advocates,” she continued.
Women Helping Women representatives held a training and informational session for all City of Cincinnati department directors earlier this month during a meeting with the City Manager. The training covered the enhancements to the City policy and additional information about the newly available employee resources. The training will also be made available to all managers through the Department of Human Resources.
“The City of Cincinnati has an obligation and a commitment to ensuring the safety of its employees. As such, it is important that the Administration regularly evaluate existing policies and procedures to make sure they are consistent with best practices and reflect the current landscape of the world in which we live,” said City Manager Patrick Duhaney.
Nationally, gender-based violence has had an $8.3 billion effect on lost workplace productivity.
· Almost half of all full-time working adults work alongside a survivor of intimate partner violence.
· 87-94% of employees experiencing sexual harassment do not file a complaint
· 74% of employed survivors were harassed by their partner at work
· 56% of those employees are late to work at least five times in a month; 28% of those affected leave work at least five days a month and 54% miss at least three full days of work
· 25% of rape survivors lose their job within a year of an assault
· 67% report that the perpetrator came to their workplace
In addition to its internal trainings, the City of Cincinnati will work with Women Helping Women this October on a social media campaign aimed at raising awareness about the effect domestic and gender-based violence can have inside and outside the workplace. The City Administration has also worked with the Duke Energy Convention Center to make the iconic “CINCINNATI” sign go purple (the awareness color for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month) at times throughout the month of October to show support.
ABOUT WOMEN HELPING WOMEN
Women Helping Women (WHW) is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1973 to serve women and men who are survivors of dating violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking in Southwestern Ohio. WHW’s mission is to prevent gender-based violence and to empower all survivors. The agency provides crisis intervention services including hotline, hospital accompaniment, court advocacy, support groups, on-scene response, and face-to-face advocacy for survivors as well as conducts trainings and prevention education to the community and schools. Funded in part by the United Way, WHW serves more than 12,000 people, including survivors and their children, annually. For more information, visit www.womenhelpingwomen.org.
# # #