A new partnership between a major telecommunications company and a statewide advocacy group will supply free cellular telephones to victims of domestic violence for use in emergency, life-threatening situations.
Under the Domestic Victim Phone Loan Program, battered women in 38 Pennsylvania counties covered by 360 Communications can get cellular phones programmed to call 911 or the local emergency access number. The company will be donating 300 used telephones, air time, batteries, chargers and maintenance. The program is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence is working with local shelters to implement the program, which is aimed at providing a vital link to safety and support for battered women and their families. The local agencies will determine who will receive the phones.
"Having immediate access to a telephone can mean the difference between life and death for some victims of domestic violence," said PCADV Executive Director Susan Kelley-Dreiss in a statement.
"A battered woman can be at risk of violence not only at home, but also when traveling to work, taking her children to school or child care, or running errands."
Central Pennsylvania counties eligible to participate in the program are Adams, Centre, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York. The cell phones will only be programmed to the emergency numbers; no other calls can be made or received.
Vicki Cuscino, PCADV publications and communications specialist, said a pilot program of the phoneloan project supplied phones to staff and volunteers at shelters in Dauphin, Clinton, Lancaster and Lycoming counties early last year. The company then decided to expand the program, she said.
Details on the actual phone distribution are not yet finalized, but Cuscino stressed that any information on who gets the phones will remain completely confidential, even from 360 Communications and her agency.
"It's very important that when a woman goes into a program, she knows that her confidentiality will be maintained. We want to make sure we do everything we can to ensure her safety," she said.
Both the company and the advocacy group warn that while the phones will help bolster security for victims, it is not an automatic guarantee of safety. Because 911 operators cannot trace the location calls made from cellular phones, women must be able to say where they are. The women must also be prepared for police intervention, Cuscino said.
"We don't want anybody to get a false sense of security. This does not provide a guarantee of safety. It doesn't necessarily give them any additional safety than they had before, except that it does give them more access to emergency communication," Cuscino said.
"One of the requirements is that the woman has to know that the police will be involved if she calls 911. Some women are not ready for that," she added.
Mary Ann Welch, regional media relations manager for 360 Communications, said the 1-year-old program is currently operating in eight states.
In Virginia, the company has donated 200 phones to agencies in 30 counties with great results, she said.
"The program has saved lives and resulted in arrests," Welch said. "We've had letters from agencies who say that even if the victims have not had to use the phone, they say they've been able to sleep for the first time in months. There's a real sense of security. In one case, a woman said she felt safe enough to go out on the road and travel to and from work."
Welch tells the story of a Virginia woman who used her cell phone to call police just before her estranged husband defied a protection-from-abuse order, charged into her home and began stabbing her multiple times. The call brought police and the appropriate medical personnel almost immediately, and the woman survived the attack.
"In a domestic violence situation, it's so important for people to be able to reach out for help when they need it," Welch said. "We feel happy to be able to use our technology to provide this type of creative solution to promote safety."
The used phones would cost between $30 to $50 and batteries would cost from $50 to $70, Welch said.
The company's interest in working with victims of domestic abuse started when direct-sales representative Glen Dellinger of York learned that a receptionist in a client's office was a victim of domestic abuse.
"It stunned me; I was floored," Dellinger said of learning about the women's problems at home.
"If you had ever tried to describe an abuse victim, you'd never think it was this person, that it would happen to this person. She was very professional, dressed well, very attractive, had a good job. I was shocked."
Dellinger decided the cell phone could serve as a lifeline for women in trouble and approached the local YWCA and then the PCADV.
"I didn't realize that if a woman calls into a domestic-abuse shelter, a volunteer comes to pick them up, maybe in the middle of the night, and they have no protection whatsoever. The guy could follow them, go after them, it's a pretty scary situation," he said. "I thought our company could respond to a situation like that and do something. We carry a product that could help."
Giving phones to domestic-violence victims will provide them with a vital connection to safety and security, according to Deb Markel, executive director of Access York, a shelter and resource center for victims and their families. The agency will be one of the first in Central Pennsylvania to participate in the program.
"We think it's wonderful," Markel said. "It's another linkage that otherwise people might not have, a connection to the community and safety. People in domestic-violence situations never really know when the violence could occur; it could happen at any time. The ability to connect with help is a critical link."
Helping an abused woman establish a personal-safety plan is one of the most important pieces in her struggle to start a new life away from her abuser, Markel said. After their escape from a troubled situation, many women don't even have access to a phone.
"Any link to normalcy and consistency, such as 911, makes them feel more secure. It's part of their safety planning, and that' s critical," Markel said.
"One woman told me that, 'You stay until the fear of staying becomes greater than the fear of leaving.' It's a scary thing to leave," she added. "Another person told me that she finally got the strength to leave when she found something stronger and more powerful than the threats of the abuser ... and that can come in the support of the community."
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