Wireless phones help women escape dangerous situations

As children we learn in an emergency to pick up a phone and call 911 day or night for assistance. For many access to that call is as simple as pulling out a cell phone and punching in the number.

But what if a person has to leave all their material possessions behind or is being stalked by an abuser? What if there is no handy cell phone to aid them in that emergency moment?

Call to Protect is a national program initiated by the philanthropic arm of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, known as the Wireless Foundation in Washington, D.C., which has been putting free cell phones with wireless service into the hands of victims of abuse since 1996.

At an April 19 press conference held at Congresswoman Shelley Berkley's Las Vegas office, it was announced that Call to Protect would provide 100 wireless phones with service to four local shelters (25 each): SAFE House in Henderson, Safe Nest and Shade Tree both in Las Vegas and No to Abuse in Pahrump. The program is locally sponsored by Sprint, Sprint PCS and Motorola.

The phones are pre-programmed to dial 911 and two non-emergency numbers. Shelters are able to give victims the phones as an added safety measure during the tenuous time after leaving an abuser.

"Unfortunately, leaving is not always the solution," said Amber Batchelor, director of special programs at Safe Nest. Sometimes the danger continues to escalate after a victim leaves the situation which is when a cell phone can save a life.

Since receiving their 25 phones from Call to Protect, Batchelor already has stories of how they have helped battered women escape potentially lethal situations. After leaving her abuser, one woman was battered and left in the desert. But because she had a cell phone from Safe Nest, the police were able to find her before it was too late.

"They are life savers," Batchelor said. "It's not too hard to find an individual now because of the Internet. A lot of battered women can't afford a cell phone. All too often, in our regular lives, we forget how crucial a cell phone can be."

The phones Safe Nest distributes are programmed to dial 911, the agency's crisis hotline and the counseling office. Batchelor said she remembers how it was before they could give cell phones to women who are ready to start their lives again. "They had to try and find a neighbor or someone (for support) which meant they had to tell a stranger all about that (what happened to them)."

Lisa Lynn Chapman, spokeswoman for Safe Nest, said the on-going program has been an enormous success so far. The phones are in use everyday and the agency has had no trouble getting phones back to be used by different people.

"Within a week (of receiving the phones) we had already given away half our phones," said Chapman. The organization also has received an unrelated donation of phones from Radio Shack to their Mesquite office.

SAFE House Executive Director Karen Marconi said another important element of Call to Protect is the underlying message. "The more we can heighten the issue of domestic violence the more we can prevent (it)."

Several area businesses and organizations have offered more assistance to SAFE House as a result of their involvement in Call to Protect, said Marconi. There has also been an increase in volunteer applications requested.

A secondary component to Call to Protect is collecting donated phones. All Sprint and Sprint PCS stores as well as the four participating agencies are collecting used phones to be refurbished and then reused. Phones go back to the national office for the maintenance and then are sent out in equitable numbers all over the nation to participating agencies.

The Wireless Foundation has distributed nearly 2,000 phones since January, said Heidi Fincken who is the director of programs for the Wireless Foundation. All 50 states have participants. She said an average of approximately 130 phones are given to each area per year.

Fincken said the national organization may distribute more phones next year to agencies depending on how many phones are collected and each agency's needs. SAFE House currently has 22 of their 25 phones in use and Safe Nest has all of their phones checked out.

Amber Batchelor said there is no waiting list for the phones but they are in continuous use. She said the agency hasn't been flooded with requests because people seem to understand that these aren't just free phones being handed out to anybody but the phones are for women in critical need.

Approximately 95 percent of the victims of domestic violence are women. Nationally, three to four million women a year are victims of domestic violence, according to Safe Nest's Website. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responds to approximately 1,250 to 1,400 cases of domestic violence related crimes a month. The Nye County Sheriff's office had over 200 reported domestic battery cases in 2000 while the Henderson Police Department had 4,606 related calls in 2000 and 1,743 reports filed.

"The preponderance of women make it a woman's issue and a family issue. Issues that affect women, affect families," said Congresswoman Berkley on April 19.