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kalikshama -> RE: Nikki Haley vetos Rape Crisis Center Funding (7/14/2012 8:56:35 AM)
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More veto outrage over Gov. Haley's cuts to "distracting" rape crisis centers
According to the governor, state funding for rape victims “attempts to serve a portion of our population for which we extend our sympathy and encouragement, but nevertheless, it is only a small portion of South Carolina’s chronically ill or abused.” Haley said the $453,000 designated for the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault’s rape crisis centers “distracts from the [Department of Health and Environmental Control's] broader mission of protecting South Carolina’s public health.”
However, SCCADVASA Executive Director Pamela Jacobs said in a statement that sexual assault is “undoubtedly a public health issue. And with rates of sexual violence far surpassing national numbers, it is also one of the most serious health epidemics facing South Carolinians.”
In fact, the State Law Enforcement Division reports that South Carolina’s rape rate has exceeded the national rate every year since 1982. Jacobs said the coalition’s 15 sexual assault programs in South Carolina helped over 5,000 victims in 2011 — over half of which were children — and emergency hotline workers answered over 7,000 calls. SCCADVASA’s programs also provide prevention education to over 50,000 South Carolina students, which Jacobs said helps prevent sexual violence before it occurs.
“If this veto is not overridden, rape crisis centers will lose 37% of their current state funding, which will drastically reduce their ability to respond to victims and provide prevention education,” said Jacobs.
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