Addressing Domestic Violence: A Corporate Response Survey 1994
Key Learning
Leaders in corporate America today perceive domestic violence as a grave social problem that impacts the lives of their employees and their companies.
- Two in five corporate leaders are personally aware of employees in their company who have been affected by domestic violence.
- One in four reports someone close to him or her has been affected by it.
Findings In Depth
The Perception of Domestic Violence
57% of corporate leaders believe domestic violence is a major problem in today's society and one-third of them believe that domestic violence affects their balance sheet. 66% percent of corporate leaders believe that a company's financial performance will benefit from addressing the issue among its employees, while only 30% say domestic violence is not serious enough to merit a company-wide response.
Four in ten respondents are personally aware of company employees who have been affected by domestic violence. These leaders believe domestic violence has had a negative impact on many aspects of their employees' performance, most notably psychological well-being (56%), productivity (49%) and attendance (47%).
Whose Responsibility Is It?
Yet for all this, corporate America seems uncomfortable about the issue and is reluctant to deal with it. Corporate leaders are least likely to cite corporations when asked who should play a major role in addressing domestic violence issues. They are far more likely to believe that responsibility for addressing the problem should ideally fall on the family, social service organizations or the court system. Some parts of corporate America have responded to the issue. A majority of these corporations sponsor domestic violence awareness/survivor support programs, and nearly three-quarters offer domestic violence counseling or assistance programs to their employees in need. Specific components of these programs include referrals, counseling and company-paid benefits to cover physical or psychological care.
Yet for all this, corporate America seems uncomfortable about the issue and is reluctant to deal with it. Corporate leaders are least likely to cite corporations when asked who should play a major role in addressing domestic violence issues. They are far more likely to believe that responsibility for addressing the problem should ideally fall on the family, social service organizations or the court system. Some parts of corporate America have responded to the issue. A majority of these corporations sponsor domestic violence awareness/survivor support programs, and nearly three-quarters offer domestic violence counseling or assistance programs to their employees in need. Specific components of these programs include referrals, counseling and company-paid benefits to cover physical or psychological care.
Will This Change?
The spate of recent media attention surrounding domestic violence cases appears to have less influence on a company's interest in addressing the subject than its own experience. Only one-third say such media attention has had any significant degree of impact on their desire to address the issue. And regardless of their current involvement in domestic violence programs, 43% say they will definitely respond to the problem in the future, while another 8% say they may address the issue. One in seven are unsure at this time what their corporate response might be.
The spate of recent media attention surrounding domestic violence cases appears to have less influence on a company's interest in addressing the subject than its own experience. Only one-third say such media attention has had any significant degree of impact on their desire to address the issue. And regardless of their current involvement in domestic violence programs, 43% say they will definitely respond to the problem in the future, while another 8% say they may address the issue. One in seven are unsure at this time what their corporate response might be.
This report was based on telephone interviews with senior executives representing 100 major companies across the United States. Corporations were selected at random from a current (1994) list of Fortune 1,000 companies. The results are representative of the views and opinions of this population of senior executives within a sampling error of +/- 9.8 percentage points on the totals. Interviewing was conducted between July 18 - August 5, 1994 by Roper Starch Worldwide, the New York-based market research and public opinion polling firm. Complete findings from the survey are available, on request, from Patrice Tanaka & Company, Inc. 320 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10014.
