Domestic Violence advocates and staff of the African American Planning Commission turned out at New York's City Hall on Tuesday for a mock funeral to "mourn for victims of domestic violence who are dying for a safe home." The Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW) was calling on City officials to expand and improve access to permanent and/or transitional housing for women and children who are forced to leave domestic violence shelters after their 135-day maximum stay.

"87% of women and children in domestic violence shelters who leave after their 135-day stay do so without safe and permanent housing," said Susan Lob, Director of the Battered Women's Resource Center. "Many of these families are forced to either start over again in the City's homeless system or return to their batterer out of desperation, risking further abuse and even death."

VOW emphasizes the widespread impact which domestic violence has on women and families. Last year, 22 New York City women were killed by their intimate partners or former partners and another 4,000 were treated in emergency rooms for domestic violence related injuries.

VOW is calling on the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to accept a wider range of documentation as proof of domestic violence for DV Priority housing eligibility, so that women and children in desperate need of safe housing can receive Section 8 and NYCHA apartments. NYCHA currently requires DV victims to present either Police reports of two different domestic violence incidents or a court order.

"This means that women have to go through the criminal justice system which for many of them is not safe," says Lob. "It also means that being beaten up once is not enough. They have to stay and get beaten a second time." Only 30% of women in DV shelters are actually eligible for the DV priority based on NYCHA's documentation requirements.

VOW argues that referral from a DV shelter itself should be sufficient documentation. "Women in a DV shelter have already gone through vigorous screening, given up everything and gone to a confidential location," says Lob.

Advocates are also calling on the City to:

• Increase the housing options available to survivors of domestic violence, especially undocumented immigrants, single women, and survivors with disabilities;
• Speed up the application process so that survivors of domestic violence can qualify for housing while in domestic violence shelters and not be shuttled from system to system;
• Create more transitional (Tier II) housing programs specifically for survivors leaving domestic violence shelters, which could give families more time to get back on their feet and find jobs and housing; and,
• Ensure that victims of domestic violence who must leave DV shelters after 135 days are automatically transferred to the Dept. of Homeless Services' shelters without having to start all over again in the PATH center.

VOW notes that domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness generally. "In addition to the over 2,000 women and children in NYC's domestic violence shelters, there are also survivors of domestic violence in homeless shelters. Of the record 9,300 families now in the City's homeless shelters, domestic violence was the number one reason these families gave for becoming homeless," says Lob.

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