by Megan Tackney, Outreach Program Associate,
National Women's Law Center
In my first job out of college I found myself working at my local women’s crisis center.
Wait, let me make a correction — I didn’t find myself there. I wanted to be there. I wanted to help. I thought I knew what to expect when I walked through the doors — which were padlocked, barred, and rigged with an alarm and camera.
I expected sadness and struggle. But what I found can not be properly described in words. I quickly learned that the countless women who called our hotline and came to stay with us in the shelter were not just victims of physical and emotional violence. They were caught in a system very often not equipped to properly help or protect them.
Many were working to support entire families while struggling to keep themselves and their children safe. Some suffered from mental illness, substance abuse, and chronic illness, all of which was worsened by, or attributed to, their life of abuse.
This past year, from my comfy, safe office here in Washington, D.C., I learned that domestic violence could be considered a pre-existing condition that would lead to the denial of health insurance. I thought of the hundreds of woman I met while I worked at the shelter, and what this denial would mean for them. It was another “No.” Another “We won’t help you.” Another policy pushing them back to their abusers and away from self-sufficiency. Such policies are deadly.
My fight today in support of health care reform that meets the needs of women and families is not only for the masses. It’s for the women I met years ago, who were fighting for their lives.
This post is part of a series on Women and Health Reform.
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