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- THE WEEK, Page 21SOCIETYHelp is a Push Away
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- A new device combats the spread of domestic violence
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- No battered woman ever feels completely safe from an attack
- by an abusive husband or boyfriend -- even one barred by
- injunction from contacting her. Because plenty of assailants
- simply refuse to stay away, police departments and women's
- shelters in Boston and Knoxville will be providing "panic
- buttons" that allow victims to summon help electronically. ADT
- Security Systems of Tampa is offering electronic devices free of
- charge to a limited number of women in cities participating in
- the six-month pilot program. The devices are worn as pendants or
- installed in homes as security-system panels. A woman fearing
- imminent assault can press her panic button, which relays a
- signal through her telephone line to ADT dispatchers, who in
- turn notify police. The victim must be inside her home or
- within 200 ft. of it for the device to work. To be eligible for
- the test program, already under way in Tampa and Jacksonville,
- the women must agree in advance to press charges if the
- assailant is caught. Said ADT spokesman Jay Stuck: "This is not
- designed for a woman who's had a bad Saturday night with her
- husband."
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