should go to the Women's Resource Centre, Shadow Minister Kim Young said yesterday.

Mrs. Young pointed out that although $34,000 is set aside within the ministry's budget for women's issues, there are no employees dedicated to this area.

"What I'd like to ask the Minister is what is this money used for and for whom is it used,'' she said.

"I'd love the Minister to stand up and tell me what has been done in the area of women's issues. Maybe we should cut the $34,000 to that department that doesn't produce.'' And she said that $34,000 and the $24,000 in funding set aside for the Bermuda Family Council would both be better used in the hands of the Women's Resource Centre.

Mrs. Young said that despite the fact the Government claimed to be listening to the community, it didn't listen to the Women's Resource Centre's funding crunch.

"There's no change to the Women's Resource Centre grant, despite the acknowledged increase in violence and sexual assault against women,'' she said. "This is where people would go (in these circumstances).'' She pointed out that the WRC provides counselling and a crisis hotline but recently faced closure due to lack of funds.

The WRC received a grant of $60,000 in each of the three last budgets. The Centre costs roughly $15,000 per month to operate and faced closure this past December and January due to a shortage of funds. After an emeregency appeal, private donations from the public began rolling in and kept the charity afloat.

In response to Mrs. Young, Health Minister Nelson Bascome said that the Government had decided that women's issues would be included in the Family Council and that group was currently working with a Caribbean entity to address these concerns.

And he said, that the ministry was currently encouraging the WRC and the Physical Abuse Centre to work more closely together.

"We want to see how they can work in unison,'' he said. "One has a great residential programme, the other provides great counselling and we're trying to get a marriage there.''