MULTIMEDIA SEATTLE’S

" A BEAR FOR ME ? " PROGRAM

INFANT AND TODDLER
EMERGENCY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER

ARRIVAL BAGS

Multimedia Seattle has implemented the “ A Bear for Me?“ Program as an additional community service provided through Multimedia Seattle’s Western Washington Domestic Violence Prevention and Outreach Program.

Multimedia Seattle’s “A Bear for Me?” Program provides Infant and Toddler Domestic Violence Shelter Arrival Bags to vulnerable children entering Domestic Violence Shelters with their mothers.

Infant Domestic Violence Shelter Arrival Bags are composed of a strong, colorful multifunctional nylon tote bag containing:

• A  new pacifier.
• A soft and comforting, beautiful new teddy bear.
• A soft, new baby blanket.
• A small bag of clean diapers and skin cleansing wipes.
• With Washington Dental Service Foundation’s generous assistance, we will include a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste within the Infant Domestic Violence Shelter arrival bags, for the infant’s mothers.

 
Items to assist during the first stressful moments of arrival at the Domestic Violence Shelter, when necessary items, such as clean diapers and cleansing wipes, may not be readily available.  Items to help comfort and remind the children and their mothers that they are cared for.

 
Toddler Domestic Violence Shelter Arrival Bags are composed of a strong,  colorful multifunctional nylon tote bag containing:

• A soft and comforting, beautiful new Teddy Bear.
• A soft, new baby blanket
• A new colorful toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from our community partner,             Washington Dental Service Foundation.  
• A small individual tissue pack.
• A new box of  24 Crayola crayons.
• A small personal notebook to write and draw in.

Items to help comfort and to help remind the children and their mothers that they are cared for.

    MULTIMEDIA SEATTLE’S

 " A BEAR FOR ME ? " PROGRAM

 AS THEY FLEE FROM VIOLENCE IN THEIR HOMES

Multimedia Seattle’s “A Bear for Me?” Program will serve our communities most vulnerable children as they flee with their mothers, from violence in their home. Often they leave so quickly, to escape further violence, that everything is left behind.. even the simple comfort of a bear and a blanket to hold. 

THE GENERATIONAL TRAGEDY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

IS THAT WOMEN ARE NOT THE ONLY VICTIMS

The generational tragedy of domestic violence is that women are not the only victims, their children are the silent, unseen victims who suffer the life-long repercussions of witnessing and experiencing physical and emotional abuse. 30-60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse the children in the household. 1   A tragedy deepened by the often fatal reality that most cases of Domestic Violence are not reported to the police. 2

Child abuse or neglect is often associated with physical or disfiguring injuries, delayed physical growth and even neurologic damage. Child maltreatment is also associated with psychological and emotional problems such as post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression and aggression. In extreme cases of abuse, child abuse and neglect can led to death. Infant homicides are classified as deaths purposefully inflicted by another person on a child less than one year old.

Between 1997 and June 2010, 755 Domestic Violence fatalities occurred in Washington State. This figure excludes deaths from suicide by women who were actively being abused.

In 2008 alone, 187 women in Washington State died from suicide, more than three times the number of women who were murdered that year. We cannot clearly know how many of those women’s suicides were directly tied to not being able to escape a severely abusive relationship. 3

Since 1997, at least 148 of the Domestic Violence Victims murdered in Washington State had children living with them at home when they were killed.
 
Of the 293 involved children, more than half were present at the time of the murder.

Five percent of those children were murdered alongside their mothers. 3

Since its inception, Multimedia Seattle’s Western Washington Domestic Violence Prevention and Outreach Program has strived to increase awareness and access to our communities critical Domestic Violence Shelters and Advocacy Programs through our educational Domestic Violence Outreach television Public Service Announcements, Multimedia Seattle’s Online Western Washington Domestic Violence Prevention and Outreach Directory, community engagement and our work through the Clinton Global Initiative.

During the 2012 program year, Multimedia Seattle is proud to expand its Western Washington Domestic Violence Outreach through the implementation of the “A Bear for Me? ” Program, to provide Infant and Toddler Emergency Domestic Violence Shelter Arrival Bags to vulnerable children entering Domestic Violence Shelters with their mothers.

We sincerely hope you will choose to join us as a partner in this critical work.

Your generous,tax-deductible donation will enable the successful implementation of this critical new program for infant and child survivors of Domestic Abuse in Western Washington.

HELP SUPPORT

MULTIMEDIA SEATTLE'S

" A BEAR FOR ME ? " PROGRAM

DONATE SECURELY TODAY THROUGH

 CLICK AND PLEDGE TODAY AT:

1 Edelson, J.L. (1999). “The Overlap Between Child Maltreatment and Woman Battering.” Violence Against Women. 5:134-154.
2 Frieze, I.H. , Browne, A. (1989) Violence in Marriage. In L.E. Ohlin and M & H. Tonry (eds.) Family Violence. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press
3 Fawcett, Jake (2010) Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence,  Up to Us: Lessons Learned and Goals for Change after Thirteen Years of The Washington State Domestic Violence Fatality Review,  Available at:  http://www.wscadv.org/docs/FR-2010-Report.pdf
4 Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy. National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,” 2000; Sara Glazer, "Violence, Against Women" CO Researcher, Congressional Quarterly, Inc., Volume 3, Number 8, February, 1993, p. 171; The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The National Institute of Justice, Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence, July 2000; The Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman’s Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women’s Health, 1999).
5 Violence Against Women, A Majority Staff Report," Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 102nd Congress, October 1992, p.3.
6 "Women and Violence," Hearings before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, August 29 and December 11, 1990, Senate Hearing 101-939, pt. 1, p. 12
7 The Violence Policy Center, When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2008 Homicide Data: Females Murdered by Males in Single Victim/Single Offender Incidents.

Available at:  http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2010.pdf

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