Outreach assists plural wives and children

ST. GEORGE — It's confidential and it's free.

"This is the beginning, not the end, of our efforts to provide assistance to women and children in polygamous communities," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said of the state's effort to promote the use of a toll-free Domestic Violence help line. "We want to help. We are not the enemy. We just want to get the information out."

The hotline, 1-800-897-LINK (5465), has been around for a long time, but Shurtleff and others who work with domestic violence victims believe thousands of plural wives are unaware of the resource.

"Without intervention we can't end the abuse," Shurtleff told a small gathering of reporters, attorneys and plural wives Thursday during an afternoon press conference held on the steps of Fifth District Court in St. George. A similar press conference was held in Salt Lake City earlier in the day.

Current and former polygamous wives provided sensitivity training for help line staff so that callers would be treated with dignity, said A.J. Hunt, Domestic Violence Line coordinator.

Top do's and don'ts for staffers to remember when a plural wife calls the domestic violence hotline: validate the caller's concerns and courage; don't be shocked when they talk about polygamy; understand they may have deep loyalties; and don't pressure them to talk about religion or other family members.

"Last year we helped 5,000 individuals and 36 percent of them were Utah children," said Hunt. "One thing I noticed during our sensitivity training is that both sides said they want to stop abuse from happening."

The only way to know if domestic violence is occurring in polygamous communities is if the victims speak up, she said.

Most residents of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and practice polygamy. Not far to the south of Colorado City is Centennial Park, Ariz., another polygamous community of mostly former FLDS members who also believe in living a plural lifestyle.

"We believe there are women and children living in these closed societies who need help," said Lynda Whitlock, executive director of the DOVE Center, a St. George shelter for domestic violence victims.

Elizabeth, Anne, Hazel and several other plural wives who did not want their last names made public, attended the press conference.