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Friday, March 29, 2024
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The Barron County Board of Supervisors voted to cut funding for Embrace after the shelter issued a statement in support of ending police violence against BIPOC communities. 

Domestic violence shelter loses funding over anti-racism statement

The Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault and End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin released a joint statement Thursday in support of Embrace and Black Lives Matter. 

WCASA and End Abuse said they are committed to supporting policies that “reframe the concept of public safety.” Embrace is a member program of both coalitions.

“We reject efforts that attempt to force us to choose between knowing that Black Lives Matter and working with legal system partners to improve responses for those survivors who engage with the legal system,” the statement read. 

The statement came after Barron County pulled funding from Embrace after the organization posted an anti-racism statement to their website on Sept. 30. The statement said that racism, police violence, sexual violence, and domestic violence have the same “root causes.”

“We urge more community members, colleagues, and agency partners who work in all systems – judicial, law enforcement, education, health care, housing, social services – throughout our community to acknowledge the recurrent problem of racial biases, reimagine their roles, explore community-led solutions, and commit to being anti-racist through their actions and words,” Embrace’s statement read. 

The Barron County Sheriff’s Office, along with five other law enforcement departments, said they were ending their affiliation with Embrace after the organization’s statement, according to WPR.

On Oct. 7, a week after Embrace’s statement, the Barron County Board of Supervisors executive committee voted to cut $25,000 in future funding. The board also voted to have County Health and Human Services Director Stacey Frolik resign from Embrace’s board of directors. 

Frolik told WPR that the funding is still in the county budget for domestic abuse services. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald resigned from the Embrace board before their statement, partly due to Embrace’s signs in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ftizgerald said the department will still refer victims to the organization. 

Embrace has provided a safe shelter, crisis support and community awareness efforts for over 30 years. Embrace is the only domestic violence and sexual assault survivor service in the rural and low-income area. Embrace’s safe shelter is in Ladysmith, Wisc., which is part of Rusk County. The organization also has offices in Barron County, Price County and Washburn County. 

Research suggests that the pandemic has posed heightened risks for domestic violence, including close contact between an abuser and a victim, lack of opportunity for a victim to escape and reduction in a victim’s contact with others. 

Other domestic abuse shelters, including Golden House in Green Bay, have seen fewer families and more single residents. Golden House Executive Director Cheeia Lo is worried that with virtual school, abuse might be going unreported, according to WBAY

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Hope Karnopp

Hope Karnopp is the news manager and dabbles in music reviews at The Daily Cardinal. She previously hosted the Cardinal Call for WORT-FM and edited state news.

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