Before Shelter ***Trigger Warning***

[sheshe2]

Before Shelter

In the 1970s, women like Renee had few options for safety. They listened, and like good listeners, they obeyed through turmoil and injury.

If the public acknowledged them at all, hushed words singled them out as battered women between snickers and ironic cracks. They were reminded “till death do us part” as they scrambled to disguise black eyes and broken ribs, and at night when they locked their front doors to keep safe from intruders, they cast their pleas into residual silence.

Friends and relatives who might offer a couch or bed instead counseled them to tough it out: “That’s what marriage is.”

Without social support, they had little recourse to become immediately independent as domestic violence necessitates. Abusers most often severely injure or kill just before victims decide to leave. Victims must safety plan in meticulous detail to ensure that abusers do not know their plans. Many need to find a new home and a new job in a new neighborhood so that their abusers cannot find them once they’ve left. Many leave with barely any belongings because packing a proper suitcase could tip their abusers off.

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Read more:http://www.womenagainstabuse.org/index.php/about-us/waa-history#before

The Early Years

In the late 1960s, second-wave feminist activists ignited the Battered Women’s Movement. Women experiencing violence began to break the silence, prompting widespread attitudinal change that the need for domestic violence services is a collective issue rather than an individual problem.Women banded together to provide informal services, such as shelters run from homes, to support each other. It would not be until 1984 that DV programs would be eligible for designated government funds under the Family Violence Prevention Services Act.

It was in the midst of this movement in the mid-70s, and at a crucial point in Renee’s life, that Women Against Abuse got its start.

In the late 1970s, hospitals witnessed scores of women enter emergency care because of an abusive partner. Neck injuries from strangulation, broken cheek bones and dark bruises all pointed to the same story.

Compelled by their interactions with these patients, two Philadelphia-based hospital social workers collaborated to form Philadelphia’s first domestic violence crisis hotline. Today, the hotline continues as a free and confidential 24-hour resource for safety planning, crisis counseling, and referrals, taking approximately 10,000 calls each year.

http://www.womenagainstabuse.org/index.php/about-us/waa-history#early


Beyond Shelter

Women Against Abuse remained ahead of the curve, founding the first legal center in the country dedicated to victims of domestic violence. The organization’s leadership continually grew to meet clients’ needs, adding Sojourner House in 1987 to alleviate the desperate demand for long-term supportive housing. WAA introduced preventive educational services in the 90s. In 2008, staff members integrated behavioral health services into residential programs in response to the severe trauma evidenced among shelter residents.

Read More: http://www.womenagainstabuse.org/index.php/about-us/waa-history#beyond

Today

Today, public consensus says domestic violence is wrong. As more victims speak out, the shame might lessen, but the victim’s reality is still fraught with innumerable challenges and complications. Supportive services are crucial to untangling the difficulties that make freedom from domestic violence seem impossible. In 2011, demand for services still heavily exceeds supply. The police, for example, fields 115,000 calls for domestic violence each year. The work that domestic violence advocates fulfill provides critical safety outlets so that no woman or child has to suffer in silence.

Read More: http://www.womenagainstabuse.org/index.php/about-us/waa-history#today

No No No! The friends and relatives were wrong! That is not what marriage is! "Till death do us part!" NO!

Speak up and break your silence. Tell someone. It hurts I know it does. I know. Please stop suffering in silence.