Heterosexual men, gay men and lesbians victimized by domestic violence may feel they have been left behind by support organizations in the past, but more groups such as Stop Abuse for Everyone are aiming to increase services for them.
University graduate Jade Rubick created SAFE almost a decade ago to help people in his situation find help for dealing with domestic violence.
Rubick said he had been in an abusive relationship for a couple years, but when he looked for help he found that most of the organizations would only help women.
“There didn’t seem to be real help for men in abusive situations,” he said.
Rubick said his goal was to create a support group and help hotline in Eugene, but he began with a Web site, which received a huge response.
According to a Department of Justice report of the National Violence Against Women Survey, 834,732 men are battered each year.
“The idea is we don’t want to discriminate based on characteristics that aren’t important,” he said.
Over time, his project developed to include person-to-person services, and in January 2001 Rubick officially established the group as a nonprofit organization.
With the motto “our name is our mission,” SAFE provides a speaker’s bureau, court advocacy, support groups, hotlines and community resources to every type of person who has been victimized by violence.
SAFE has opened a chapter in New Hampshire, which has the same services as a domestic violence shelter without the actual shelter. This chapter received more than 150 calls regarding domestic violence in the first three months of 2004.
Rubick is currently working to open a shelter in Eugene and Portland. He said the organization is based in Portland, but they do policy work nationally and he hopes a new Portland chapter would help people on a local level.
One of SAFE’s most popular services is a brochure that individually discusses domestic violence against heterosexual men, gay men and lesbians. These brochures have been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Russian, Bulgarian and Spanish, to better serve the communities. Abigail Van Buren endorsed the heterosexual men brochure in her Dear Abby column.Rubick said he hopes SAFE will be able to conduct a nationwide survey of available domestic violence services in the future.
“We’re trying to get feedback on what type of services are out there,” he said.
He said SAFE has received praise from the Points of Light Foundation and the National Crime Prevention Council.
Eugene Womenspace Community Outreach Director Margo Schaefer said programs such as SAFE are important to make people feel comfortable.
“Our program is called Womenspace, so that could be a barrier for some people,” she said. “People should go where they feel comfortable.”
Although Womenspace used to just serve women, Schaefer said they have opened their services to everyone.
She said she is glad to see these type of programs available, especially due to the dramatic rise of domestic violence recently.
Schaefer said since September 2003, Lane County has experienced nine homicides or suicides where either the abuser or victim died. Prior to September, there were nine similar incidents over a seven-year span.
Rubick said SAFE’s goal is to provide services to everyone who needs them.
“It doesn’t matter what type of person you are,” he said. “If you’re in an abusive relationship, it is the type of experience you’re having that is important. The services you receive should be based on what you need, rather than who you are.”