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57 Percent Of Corporate Leaders Believe Domestic Violence
One-Third Say Domestic Violence Affects Their Corporate Balance Sheet; Two -Thirds Say Their Financial Performance Will Benefit From Addressing Issue
NEW YORK, NY - (September, 1994) - Leaders in corporate America today perceive domestic violence as a grave social problem that can and does affect the lives of their employees and companies. According to a recent survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide on behalf of Liz Claiborne, Inc., as part of its on-going domestic violence awareness campaign, 57% of corporate leaders believe domestic violence is a major problem in society.
"Domestic violence is not something we can simply ignore. It is not just a family problem. It is a crime that is damaging to individuals and their families, as well as to productivity in the workplace. We in corporate America cannot afford to stand on the sidelines if we hope to protect the well-being of our employees and our bottom lines," says Jerome Chazen, chairman, Liz Claiborne, Inc.
However, while a majority of corporate America underwrites domestic violence programs, one-third perceive a negative impact of this problem on their bottom lines and four out of 10 are even personally aware of employees and other individuals affected by domestic violence, they seem uncomfortable or reluctant to deal with this issue. In fact, nearly all (96%) of those surveyed feel that it is an issue that should be addressed primarily by the family - perhaps reflecting a basic belief that domestic violence is a private matter.
The Liz Claiborne, Inc. survey, "Addressing Domestic Violence: A Corporate Response," conducted this summer by Roper Starch Worldwide, involved interviews with 100 senior executives in Fortune 1,000 companies across the United States.
Among the key findings are:
AWARENESS AND IMPACT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
One-Third Believe Domestic Violence Affects Corporate Bottom Line
When asked how much these same social problems affect their company's bottom line performance, fully one-third (33%) of all leaders believe that domestic violence affects their balance sheet, according to the Liz Claiborne, Inc. survey. Corporate leaders are most likely to rank other social problems affecting their bottom lines as follows: poor education (78%), alcoholism (54%), the general breakdown of the family (53%), drug abuse and illiteracy (48% each), violent crime (43%), lack of day care (40%), inadequate health care (31%), AIDS (30%) and homelessness (7%).
Addressing Domestic Violence Will Have a Favorable Impact on the Bottom Line
In another measure of the effect of domestic violence on their corporate bottom line, respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with several statements on the subject. Fully two-thirds (66%) agree that "a company's financial performance will benefit from addressing the issue of domestic violence among its employees," while only half (50%) agree "the bottom line impact of domestic violence on corporations is negligible." A nearly equal percentage (46%) disagree with this last statement.
Leaders Believe Abuse Has Harmful Effect on Employees
The majority of respondents (56%) report that domestic violence has had "a harmful effect on the psychological well being of some of their employees". Nearly half (49%), say that domestic violence has had "a negative effect on employee productivity," while a similar percentage (47%), claim that it has had "an adverse effect on employee attendance." Equal numbers (44%) believe domestic violence has had a harmful effect on the "physical safety of their employees" and on "insurance/ medical costs."
PERCEIVED MAGNITUDE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Domestic Violence More of a Problem than Illiteracy, Homelessness and Alcoholism
Corporate leaders surveyed were also asked the degree to which they believe various social concerns are a problem in society. Domestic violence was ranked sixth out of 11 problems facing society today. While the perceived seriousness of this issue lags behind other concerns like crime (94%), poor public education (85%) drug abuse (84%), the breakdown of the American family (75%) and AIDS (58%), domestic violence (57%) is ahead of other social concerns such as illiteracy (53%), homelessness (40%), alcoholism (38%), and, surprisingly, inadequate health care (38%) and lack of day care (34%).
"It is interesting to note that although those surveyed feel domestic violence is more of a problem than illiteracy, alcoholism and homelessness, more corporate money is spent on funding those kinds of programs," notes Esta Soler, executive director of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, a national domestic violence advocacy and education organization.
Leaders Feel Domestic Violence Affects Employees From All Walks of Life
Business leaders surveyed in the Liz Claiborne, Inc. survey (80%) say that where domestic violence exists, it affects employees from all walks of life and affects all aspects of their lives. Only 11% agree with the statement, "where domestic violence exists, it affects our employees' private lives only, not their work life." Similarly, only one in 10 agree, "where domestic violence exists, it usually affects blue collar workers only." Less than a third (30%) of respondents agreed with the statement that "compared to other problems, domestic violence is not serious enough to warrant our company's attention," leaving 69% who disagree.
Domestic Violence Touches Many Lives
When asked whether they were personally aware of any employees in their company who have been affected by domestic violence, 40% of all corporate executives surveyed responded, "yes." And when asked whether anyone close to them has ever been involved in domestic violence, one quarter (24%) of these respondents said "yes."
"It surprises me that although these leaders feel domestic violence impacts workplace productivity, they don't beleive that corporate America should address this issue," notes Esta Soler of the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
THE ROLE OF CORPORATE AMERICA
Majority of Corporations Sponsor Domestic Violence Awareness Programs
A majority of respondents in the Liz Claiborne, Inc. survey say they are involved in many social programs on the community level and fifty-eight percent report that their companies support domestic violence awareness or survivor support programs. In addition, these corporate leaders report that their companies are also involved in programs that address the following: general community or social issues (95%), environment (83%), the arts (82%), sports sponsorships (79%), education for kids (79%), substance abuse (78%), feeding the hungry (72%), aid to the homeless (70%), literacy (70%), promotion of self-esteem in children (66%), life-threatening childhood illnesses (66%), life-threatening adult illnesses (59%). Sponsorship of breast cancer screening and AIDS programs are also reported at 58% and 57%, respectively.
Three-Quarters of Companies Offer Assistance To Employees
Eighty-six percent of executives surveyed in the Liz Claiborne, Inc. study on domestic violence agree that companies have a responsibility for the general well-being of their employees. More than seven out of ten (72%) say their companies offer domestic violence counseling or assistance programs to their employees. The most commonly offered employee programs among large corporations include:
Specific Domestic Violence Programs Include Company-Paid Employee Benefits
Survey respondents were also asked whether their company currently offers a number of specific domestic violence programs. And, regardless of whether they do offer these programs, survey respondents were asked whether they believe their companies should offer them. In most cases, responses indicate that the number of programs companies actually offer to their employees exceeds what these leaders believe should be offered. Responses were recorded as follows:
Interestingly, less than half (42%) of survey respondents say their corporations actually promote the avilability of these programs to their employees.
Still Considered A Family Matter
More than nine out of 10 (96%) of corporate leaders surveyed say that responsibility for addressing the problem of domestic violence should ideally fall to the family. Only 12% of corporate leaders surveyed say "corporations should play a major role in addressing domestic violence."
"Business leaders still feel that the responsibility for addressing this issue should fall to the family, despite the fact that the family's failure to deal with this problem has caused it to rise to crisis proportions. Abuse in the home is really a 'public health crisis' and not just a private family matter. It is time for our society to reframe this issue as such," says Esta Soler.
Respondents also cited the following institutions as having a major role to play in addressing domestic violence:
Media Attention Not a Large Factor in Corporate Action
Although media attention over the last few months and years has brought domestic violence front page coverage, it is interesting to note that in the Liz Claiborne, Inc.-sponsored study sixty-four percent of corporate leaders surveyed say this kind of attention has had "very little" (39%) or "no impact at all" (25%) on their interest in addressing the problem. In contrast, 31% report that such media attention has had "some impact," while only 2% say it has had a "great deal of impact."
Future Response to Domestic Violence
Regardless of their current levels of involvement in or sponsorship of domestic violence programs, 43% of respondents say their company "will be addressing" the issue in the near future, while another 8% say their companies "may address" the problem. More than one-third (35%) say their company "will not be addressing" the issue in the near future. Given differing opinions about who should deal with domestic violence, it is not surprising that nearly one in seven, or 14% of all respondents, say they "don't know" whether their company will respond to the issue anytime soon.
The WOMEN'S WORK Program
"Corporate America is the last best hope for underfunded social issues such as domestic violence," says Wendy Banks, senior vice president, Liz Claiborne, Inc. For the past three years, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has been deeply committed to supporting this issue through its "Women's Work" program, which has included billboards, radio announcements, posters, brochures and the forging of partnerships with local retailers and community groups. "We hope to change not only consumer perceptions of domestic violence through our 'Women's Work' program, but the comfort level of corporate America in dealing with this problem."
Methodology
This report was based on telephone interviews senior executives representing 100 Fortune 1,000 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.
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