Press Release
Jan pledges to help stamp out domestic violence
Essex businesswoman Jan Smith joined fellow top UK company executives at 10 Downing Street to add her corporate and personal support for a new campaign against domestic violence.
Jan, chairman of End-O-Line Services (EOLS) in Maldon, was among the business representatives invited by Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie to the national launch of the UK Corporate Alliance against Domestic Violence (UKCAADV).
Joining with organisations helping victims of violence such as Women’s Aid and the Refuge movement, UKCAADV is aiming to cut the human and economic impact of domestic violence through action in the workplace.
Jan, whose company recycles redundant IT equipment, has pledged to introduce a policy to support employees who are victims of violence and ensure that perpetrators are brought to book.
With one in four women subjected to domestic abuse, the economic cost to UK businesses is estimated at £2.7 billion a year. At work, victims’ suffering can lead to decreased productivity, absenteeism and increased employee turnover with co-workers also affected when they have to fill in for absent or non-productive workers. Colleagues can feel resentment of victims needing time off or receiving extra attention or get distracted from their own work when they feel unable to help.
Jan said: “As part of our need to be socially responsible, companies should step forward to do something about this. I have had personal experience of domestic violence which helps me understand the need for action.
“ We are drawing up guidelines and will implement training to help managers recognise when employees are suffering abuse so that we can provide the right support as soon as possible.”
Jan was also in the audience at UKCAADV’s first conference at the Department of Trade and Industry headquarters on September 28 and hopes to help spread UKCAADV’s mission into the eastern region.
EOLS has already been involved in The Body Shop Fones4Safety campaign which recycles redundant phones transforming them into personal alarms for women at risk of domestic violence.