Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is the most common type of violence against women. The problem affects all areas of the world and every sector of society. Women are not the only casualty; children in violent homes develop their own psychological scars-consequences that often follow them their entire lives. Research shows that child abuse and domestic violence often occur in the same homes.

We were one of the first corporations to become involved in the fight against violence in the home. In 1996, we organized and hosted the first annual corporate conference in the United States on domestic violence. In 1998, our former parent company, Altria, joined the National Network to End Domestic Violence to create a grant initiative called Doors of Hope. The largest corporate giving program of its kind in the United States, it supports shelters, legal services, emergency financial assistance, and child protection across the country.

Today, Philip Morris International supports a variety of programs ranging from awareness building to violence prevention, victim protection, and rehabilitation of those affected by domestic violence. We help build shelters, provide access to counseling and medical aid, and assist victims in rebuilding their lives and their self esteem.

Here are a few examples of the types of programs we support across the globe:

• In Dominican Republic, we support an innovative program that aims to help convicted domestic violence aggressors break their pattern of abusing women and children.
• In Japan, we are funding a range of initiatives to help battered women and children, including hotlines, counseling, shelters, awareness campaigns, and financial assistance to help reconstruct broken lives.
• In France, we helped renovate a shelter and day care center which is providing a safe haven and counseling for victims of domestic violence and their children.
• In Switzerland, home to our global operations center, we support several programs.