SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio will soon require businesses to post special stickers in public or employee bathrooms to help reach victims of domestic violence. Advocates told KENS 5 women and men often use public bathrooms to escape from an abusive partner and the stickers could save lives.
District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez said the ordinance had been in the works for a long time. The council presentation showed the idea was originally brought to council in October of 2021. Metro Health conducted a survey in late 2022 with more than 1,400 responses from businesses and members of the public. The city also met with the Restaurant Association and other organizations in 2023.
The agenda memorandum for the ordinance said SAPD filed 20,547 domestic violence reports in 2022 and documented 17 related homicides. It said police filed 19,945 reports related to family violence in 2021 which included 22 homicides. "It's a matter of public safety and public health that the city recognize its role and responsibility in doing everything that we can to prevent this from continuing and growing in our community," District 9 Councilman John Courage said.