Gay marriage could help Nevada domestic violence programs

Gay marriage could help Nev. domestic violence programs
Rachel Crosby, Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS – Gay marriage activists in Nevada have an unlikely fiscal ally: domestic violence programs.

That’s because the only state-allocated source of domestic violence program funding comes from a $25 surcharge on each Nevada-issued marriage license. Revenue from that surcharge has dropped over the past decade as marriage rates have fallen throughout the United States and fewer tourists have headed to Las Vegas to elope...

...About 48.2 percent of women living in Nevada have experienced some form of domestic violence in their lifetime, according to Lisa Lynn Chapman of Safe Nest. Chapman acknowledged that not all perpetrators are men, but being a woman in Nevada carries its statistical risks.

Throughout the past 15 years of available Violence Policy Center data, Nevada ranked in the top 10 for men murdering women, and 90 percent of those cases, on average, were domestic violence-related homicides. For six of those years Nevada ranked No. 1, including 2008, 2009 and 2010.... MORE at http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/07/26/gay-marriage-help-nev-domestic-violence-programs/13225501/