Baltimore shelter fights domestic violence 'epidemic' | Baltimore ...

Jane Marion, writing for Baltimore Magazine, says that domestic violence is an "epidemic," and if the Centers for Disease Control is correct, she's right: the CDC's statistic is that one in four women in the U.S. has been abused by a partner.

But in Baltimore, the House of Ruth, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, seeks to fight the epidemic. "We were in a bug-infested townhouse," says former president Marcella Schuyler, as Marion reports, "with people sleeping on mattresses on top of each other. It was a mess - we didn't have the hands to organize, but we had no problem finding victims."

Schuyler refers to the humble beginnings of the House of Ruth, but today the shelter has 84 beds inside a "pleasant, low-lying brick building" in the heart of Baltimore City. It also has a legal clinic made up of 17 lawyers in six Maryland courthouses.

The director of the legal clinic recently helped get a law passed, according to Marion, which enhances the penalty for people convicted of domestic abuse, including a "flag" for domestic violence on the criminal record.

Source: The Sound of Silence

Source: http://www.baltimorecriminallawblog.com/2012/07/baltimore-shelter-fights-domestic-violence-epidemic.shtml

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