Council OKS domestic violence initiative
No penalties for businesses that do not comply
Come next October, San Antonio restaurants, hotels, theaters and private hospitals will be required to post domestic violence awareness stickers in their public and employee restrooms.
Yet, any business that refuses to display the sticker — which will include a hotline number — on a bathroom mirror won’t face legal action or a fine.
City officials hope San Antonio’s stark domestic violence statistics will motivate all “places of public accommodation” to get on board with the sticker initiative.
“There’s going to be some owners who object to this,” said District 8 Councilman Manny Peláez. “For those owners, I’ll remind you that onethird of all women customers that come through your doors have this problem. And one-third of your female employees have this problem.”
One out of every four men in San Antonio also experience domestic violence, said Erica Hallerstevenson, a public health administrator at San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.
The stickers were Peláez’s idea. The fourthterm councilman has made domestic violence prevention efforts a hallmark of his council tenure.
The mayor and council on Thursday unanimously adopted the sticker ordinance. It amends city code “to require a domestic violence resource sign be posted containing information regarding services and assistance available to victims of domestic violence in places of public accommodation in order to increase community awareness,” specifically in all bathrooms.
The ordinance takes effect Oct. 1.
There are an estimated 32,000 places of public accommodation in the city.
The stickers will be in English and Spanish, and will include the National Domestic Violence Hotline phone number and a QR code that directs the person accessing it to a website for more information about domestic violence. It’s still to be determined whether that will be a Metro Health-managed site or a national one, Haller-stevenson said.
District 2 Councilman Jalen Mckee-rodriguez expressed disappointment that the ordinance has no teeth.
“If we are funding signs and delivering them, it’s very much funded by the city and so I would personally prefer to see some form of penalty,” he said. “Have someone come in and explain why they object to protecting and educating the community on resources that are available to them.”
“I would hate to think that we’re doing something just to look good,” Mckee-rodriguez added.
Metro Health expects to begin distributing stickers in late winter.
The health department will pass out stickers during routine restaurant health inspections. It also will make them available for businesses to pick up at the Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center, which issues building and certificate of occupancy permits, and at City Council offices and public libraries. It’s also hoping chambers of commerce will provide stickers to their members.
Haller-stevenson said the region’s chambers were largely supportive of the ordinance.
“There is universal support for the idea. There is concern about monetary penalties and burden on business, especially coming out of the pandemic and people really trying to get back on their feet and get the economy going again,” she said. “We were really sensitive to that and recommended no monetary penalty as part of this ordinance.”
No other U.S. city is believed to have a similar domestic violence awareness initiative, Haller-stevenson said.
It will cost the city $200,000 this fiscal year, and $7,500 annually in subsequent years.