It's About Time

I have no problem with homeless shelters, abuse clinics, and things of that nature. In fact, I think they are good and do the public a much-needed service. Which is why I could never understand why the area I live in did not have a true women's shelter. Finally, though, Longview has renovated theirs and it can now be a place of hope for abused women.

http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/08/29/08292008_new_shelter.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=7

There is one thing that I have to mention about this that a lot of people don't know. In Texas, these women would be getting PROTECTIVE ORDERS, not restraining orders. A man can be arrested for violating a protective order, which is what women (and men) can get against their spouse, live-in, or ex-anything, if their relationship is in anyway familial. They can also get protective orders against fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws. Restraining orders cannot be enforced by the law--it's a civil matter. For example, someone can get a restraining order against a business partner to prevent him or her from gaining any money or asset of the business until such time as the courts deem that they can. It's a completely different thing. A protective order protects a person from threat, harm, and death, and a restraining order restrains a person from gaining something that has yet been determined belongs to them.

So, anyway, the reason, I think, that this area has been lax in gaining a shelter for women is because we still live in a world where it is thought that a woman is protected by her family. She doesn't need a place to go because her parents or other family will take her in. What many people don't realize is that there are several things that could--and many times did--happen to prevent this. Her family could be dead, her husband or boyfriend could have made her leave her family and taken her thousands of miles away without any way for her to get back, her family could have written her off, she could have come from an abusive home before, and other things that a lot of people don't think about. For some women, there is no other option. I am just glad that there is now someplace for them to go to that will help them stay safe and get back on their feet--or at least help them find a new life away from the abuse. Men aren't the only ones who need help, and it's good that East Texas has realized this.