Document #1190108
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Please see the attachment from the office
of the Project Coordinator, Rape and Domestic Violence, of the
Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence
dated 15 January 1998 for a brief summary of the Arkansas domestic
violence law (Arkansas Domestic Abuse Act of 1991).
According to an Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette report of 11 August 1997, nearly 300 orders
of protection were issued in Benton County to date while in the
whole of 1996 only 408 were issued. An Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette report of 10 February 1997 indicates that the
situation was similar in Pulaski County where "the number of
protective orders sought increased 13-fold from 1990 to 1996, from
126 to 1,673".
The increase in protective orders has
placed more demand on womens shelters (ibid.). In a telephone
interview of 16 January 1998, a representative of the Arkansas
Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence stated that
shelters exist in all 75 counties in Arkansas but not all counties
could provide shelters exclusively for victims of domestic
violence. There are many poor counties in Arkansas and Arkansas is
not a wealthy state. Please see the attached articles for more
information on shelters for victims of domestic violence in
Arkansas.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the
list of sources consulted in researching this Information
Request.
References
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 11
August 1997. Michelle Bradford. "Benton County has Plans for
Domestic Bullies." (NEXIS)
_____. 10 February 1997. Olivier
Uyttebrouck. "Abuse Relief is a 2-Way Street: Women's Shelters,
Sometimes at Odds, Use Different Paths." (NEXIS)
Office of the Arkansas Commission on
Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence. 16 January 1998. Telephone
interview with the Project Coordinator, Rape and Domestic
Violence.
Attachments
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 11
August 1997. Michelle Bradford. "Benton County has Plans for
Domestic Bullies." (NEXIS)
_____. 14 May 1997. Kevin Freking.
"State Axes Money for Women's Shelters: Federal Cuts Lead to Loss
of Funding to 26 Havens for Battered Spouses." (NEXIS)
_____. 10 February 1997. Olivier
Uyttebrouck. "Abuse Relief is a 2-Way Street: Women's Shelters,
Sometimes at Odds, Use Different Paths." (NEXIS)
Office of the Arkansas Commission on
Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence. 15 January 1998. Letter to
the Research Directorate from the Project Coordinator, Rape and
Domestic Violence.
Additional Sources Consulted
Electronic sources: IRB Databases,
Global News Bank, LEXIS/NEXIS, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World
News Connection (WNC).