Employers and Co-Workers Worry About Domestic Abuse

With domestic abuse on the rise worldwide, the issue is becoming a cause for concern in the workplace, particularly abuse of women. New York nonprofit organziation Safe Horizon has recruited 10 major companies to participate in its SafeWork 2010 national campaign to examine and help counter the impact that such abuse, usually to women, has on the workplace.

According to a recent Reuters article,

Safe Horizon, citing various studies, estimates that 8 million work days are lost each year to domestic violence.

Some research indicates that domestic abuse – whether physical violence or sustained verbal and emotional abuse, control and intimidation – cost businesses $6 billion each year in lost productivity, absenteeism and health bills.

“There really is a cost. It’s hard to quantify but you can see it in the organization, and how it impacts you at different times,” said Emanuel “Manny” Chirico, chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips-Van Heusen Corp, one of the 10 companies behind SafeWork 2010.

Other companies involved are Allstate Insurance Co, Liz Claiborne Inc, Altria Group, Mary Kay Inc, Avon Products Inc, Kaiser Permanente, Lifetime Entertainment Services, USI Holdings Corp and the law firm Mintz Levin.

If you’d like a free 32-page magazine that features several articles on violence against women, e-mail me with your full name and mailing address. I’ll send them to the first five people to respond and update this post when I run out.

Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King

Tags: womens health, woman, health, safe horizon, domestic abuse, violence against women