Domestic Violence Program

Many battered women believe they are failures as wives, mothers and women because they do not know how to stop or avoid the abuse. Their batteres often reinforce this belief as a means of control. As long as the victim feels responsible for the violence, her self-esteem will deteriorate, as her inability to stop the abuse becomes more evident. The batterer's excessive criticism, extreme jealousy, name-calling, and blaming the victim for all the relationship's problems contribute to the victim feeling incompetent. While at Unity Home's emergency shelter victims receive peer and/or professional counseling, both in-groups and individually. The shelter holds ten domestic violence related groups a week.