"[My boyfriend] beat me all the time. He wasemotionally and verbally abusive. He made me sitaround the house all day. I had no friends. Icouldn't go out to parties. I never had a teenagelife."
Jennifer became depressed and was in and out ofhospitals for two years.
"It eats you up inside," she cries softly. "Ifelt worthless, hopeless, ugly and stupid. I justhated myself."
Despite her trials, Jennifer has never been onwelfare, though she teeters precariously close tothe brink.
Jennifer is not alone. Many abused low-incomewomen are in similarly dire straights.
"Some women stay in abusive situations ratherthan face the possibility of welfare," says KateCloud, director of Respond, a resource center forbattered women. (The Hotline number is 623-5900.)
"Being in an abusive situation directlysabotages a woman's efforts to get off welfare."
Abusive partners do everything in their powerto prevent financial independence, says Cloud. Theabusive partner might beat a victim so badly thatthe bruises become too embarrassing to show inpublic. Others verbally harass victims so thattheir self-confidence is destroyed.
A 1997 Massachusetts study found that 65percent of women on welfare were physically abusedin their lifetime and 20 percent reported anattack within the last year.
Bay State DTA caseworkers recently begandomestic violence sensitivity training, a six-hourprogram developed by the Mass. Coalition ofBattered Women's Service Groups.
To pigeon-hole and limit the challenges ofwelfare recipients into three square boxes labeled"child care," "health care" and "domesticviolence" would be a grave mistake. But the BayState is optimistic about helping people one byone.
"Our philosophy is that all are curable," saysDTA spokesperson Dick Powers.
Family names of several women in thisarticle have been omitted to protect theirprivacy.
This Week
First in a two-part series, today's articleexplores several of the obstacles facing people onwelfare.
Next Week
Second in a two-part series, next week'sarticle will profile programs that support welfarerecipients.