We are aware that this section is limited. We reproduce here only some of the activities and initiatives of which we are aware, taking place in many different countries since the beginnings in Chiswick, England. For the most part, our information has been limited to what we have received at ISIS. Every time we receive something from one group, it gives us a lead to another group in a different country. For instance, the French document (ISIS no. 297) mentions refuges in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

We could wait longer for more and more information but we feel it is important to publish what we already have. We will attempt to update the information in future issues of the ISIS Bulletin. We also depend on you, our readers, to send us information about what you are doing or what is happening in your country or area.

Refuges in Britain: where it all began

In a socialized, highly developed country like Great Britain why must private citizens band together to establish safe refuges for victims of violence? The answer lies in the fact that this society, like most, "allows" domestic violence to go unpunished and provides little concrete help to the victim.

Police, social services, medicine and the law unintentionally conspire to keep the battered woman and her children in a virtual prison of physical and mental torture. The beaten woman is caught by the "no escape" clause (see section on Law p.10), and a main maxim of social work is "keep the family together at all costs" (see section on economic dependence/private property p.9).

Women have remained for years victims of violent men. But now these women are saying, "Dammit, I hate it, my life is hell... I'm getting out". What has made them now able to act on this resolve? The refuge.

The refuge is a sanctuary where a woman who has had her self-determination and mental (and possibly physical) health destroyed, can redirect her life in safety with the aid of other women. The refuge system began first in Great Britain perhaps due to the acute and chronic lack of housing that exists there - which made it impossible to relocate battered women and children on an individual basis. The first refuge was created when battered women came to the Chiswick Women's Center and the lack of response by the authorities to the needs of these and all battered women became apparent. This concern of women for each other precipitated the founding of more than 80 refuges in Great Britain and the establishment of the National Women's Aid Federation (NWAF) .

The NWAF

The National Women's Aid Federation was formed in 1975 in Manchester by 30 Women's Aid groups. The purpose of the NWAF is to represent the regional interests of women at a national level and to be a network of support and communication. It publishes information on the refuges, current legislation, and research concerning battered women, and whereas most individual refuges are too busy just surviving, the NWAF can act to exert political pressure through the media, Parliament and its own publications .

The setting up of a refuge begins by the coalescing of a group of women . Most of the groups are informal and democratic with no fixed power structure and with shared responsibility . Contact is then made with the regional NWAF coordinator and regional meetings are held every two or three months to exchange information
and experiences.

The initial strategy includes conducting surveys on the number and needs of local battered women and the community's response to them, and sending the results to influential professional people, the local press and radio, and to volunteer social organizations. Public meetings are held to which Members of Parliament, social workers, councilors and local citizens are invited. The Women's Aid group discusses the problems of battered women and asks for help in setting up a refuge to help solve these problems.

Funding

Getting a house and the funds to maintain it is the largest problem facing Women ' s Aid groups. They have acquired houses through housing councils, private landlords; Urban Aid Grant purchases, and by squatting. For example, the Grimsby group squatted a house with the full support of local citizens, but were evicted by the Borough Council to "make an example of them". Funding grants for the refuge s are made from the Urban Aid , 75% of which comes from the Home Office and 25% from the Local Authority. However, many of these requests have been turned down because the Local Authority lists the refuge as low priority to avoid paying their 25% share. It appears that groups which raise money on their own are more impressive to reluctant officials and councilors, but even these requests for funds or houses must be followed up by persistent personal contact.

How refuges work

What do women find when they come to live in a refuge? Physically, the refuge is quite a rude change from the woman's own home. The house is often an old council house in need of repair. All the rooms are shared and overcrowding is common, since most refuges try not to turn any woman in need away. But most importantly she is physically safe often for the first time in years. The atmosphere of the refuge is what the battered woman needs and seeks. All refuges are run on a cooperative self-help basis and once a woman is established she is responsible for helping to run the refuge.

The refuge is an autonomous, safe place for battered women. It is a tangible outgrowth of the spirit of the women's movement which tells all women that they can do something about their lives and can help other women in their struggle.

One of the main problems of a woman in a refuge is to decide in what direction her marriage/relationship is going. The man of ten comes to the refuge trying to talk to his wife. If the woman refuses to see him he enlists the aid of a social worker or probation officer with promises of reform, but he rarely does and some women go in and out cf a refuge 5 or 6 times trying to make the relationship work. If the woman refuses to come home he frequently becomes self-pitying, and finally threatening. More than one refuge has had a brick through the window or the lock smashed. If the woman decides to take legal action she is given advice and support by the women in the refuge.

Helping each other is seen by Women's Aid as the most important role of the refuge. Women are often depressed about their problems or feel guilty about uprooting their children, They may be anxious about starting a new life, or conversely feel as if they may never be free from their husband. Because women in the refuges have had similar experiences they are able to give each other meaningful support. It is this important support which is lacking in hostels or accommodation supplied by the authorities.

Most women do not come to a refuge until they fear for the safety of their children, Children are the "invisible" victims of marital violence and to come to the refuge they are uprooted from their home and school. The Chiswick Group is trying to establish their own school to deal with the special problems of children exposed to marital violence.

Follow-up

Where does a woman go after she leaves the refuge? Some groups have set up "second stage houses" which are run similarly to the main refuge, but with fewer families and without the crisis atmosphere. But housing authorities should work to permanently rehouse battered women as quickly as possible.

Government and the Law

In 1975 Parliament appointed a Select committee to investigate violence in marriage. After considering written and oral testimony the Committee made 28 recommendations ranging from law reform to encouraging the establishment of many more refuges. The report was very understanding of the battered women's problems, and faulted the police, housing and social services for their failure to do their duty and help these women. In December 1976 the Government sent Parliament its Observation:;on the Report. This can best be summed up by quoting one of its sentences:

"Increased expenditures on services for the victims of violence in marriage can in practice only take place by a redeployment by the bodies concerned (police, social services, etc.) of resources already available to them."

In other words a plea of lack of funds has freed the Government from its responsibility toward battered women. But in October 1976 Parliament passed the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act which had been introduced by Jo Richardson. Although watered down, the new law enables a woman to obtain a non-molestation injunction from a county court rather than having to apply to a High Court as was previously required. It also enables (but not requires) a police officer to arrest an injunction violator immediately rather than having to await a court arrest order. With regard to the disposition of the matrimonial home, the wife may now apply to the court to have the battering husband evicted rather than she and her children always having to leave the home.

What follows from establishment of refuges and attempts to change the law? Unquestionably more refuges are needed The Select Committee sees one family place per 10,000 population as the optimum, which means Great Britain needs about 930 more refuges, at least one per town o But the money to run these refuges must be found.

Presently grants from the authorities form the bulk of funding, but there are two risks inherent in continuing to depend upon this source: the financial aid is temporary - three years at the most for grants - and there are commonly strings attached to these funds; approval of written rules for the refuge, required resident warden, or close monitoring of spending. So what will happen to battered women when the media loses interest in their fashionable issue is currently unknown, but the continuance of woman-to-woman aid is assured.

Department of Health and Social Security etc., Observations on the Report from the Select Committee on Violence in Marriage, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 49 High Holborn, London WCl, 1976 (ISIS 253)

DOBASH, Rebecca and Russell, The Nature and Extent of Violence in Marriage in Scotland, Scottish Council of Social Services, 19 Claremont Crescent, Edinburgh, March 1976 (ISIS 274) ,

Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London (ISIS 272)

MEREDITH, Eileen, et al., "Women's Refuge", Spare Rib, April 1975 pp 10-14 (ISIS 255)

NATIONAL WOMEN'S AID FEDERATION, And Still You've Done Nothing, 1976 (ISIS 254)

--- Battered Women Need Refuges, 1976 (ISIS 252)

--- History and Function (flyer) , 1977 (ISIS 273)

--- Starting a Refuge (undated), (ISIS 270) SHAC, Violence in Marriage, Shac, 189A Old Brampton Road, London SWS, 1975 (ISIS 278) 17

SMITH, Joyce and FRASER, Donald C., Philosophy of the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, 938 15th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada, (undated ) (ISIS 271)
Addresses; England, Ireland, Scotland National Women's Aid Federation, 51 Chalcot Road, London NWl, (tel: 01/586 0104)

Scottish Women's Aid, Ainslie House, 11 St. Colme Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6AA Irish Women's Aid, 54 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.

Refuges: The Dutch story

The following is taken and edited from an article by Elizabeth Kobus, translated from the Dutch. It is untitled and dated July 1975. (ISIS 221)

In January 1974, six women in Amsterdam, all of whom were involved in welfare work, came together. We knew from our own professional experience that the 'helping' services do not take the abuse of women seriously. Welfare work never begins with the woman herself, but with her relationship with a man. Abuse of women, as such, thus is never discussed: it is a complaint that is first 'translated' and then unfolds as a 'relational' problem, 'marital difficulties' ,'communication disturbance'. The 'solution' is thus readily seen as the 'rebuilding' of the 'relationship' in the sense of bringing the partners together again.

We decided to make the first step toward changing the professional service given to women. We chose physically abused women as our target group because, thanks to the failure of the normal authorities and services, these women are in real danger, and also because physical abuse leaves visible evidence behind.

The types of abuse are many: hitting on the head, with or without the help of a hard object; dragging through the room by the hair; hitting in the stomach, back or groin; giving a woman a miscarriage by stepping on her stomach; breaking a nose or kicking in the ribs; sticking a fork in the back; knocking over backwards with a chair; throwing from the steps; keeping one awake all night by threatening with a weapon.

At the end of September we set up the institute "Blijf van· m'n Lijf" (BvmL-"Say away from my body"). We squatted a house, spread the word about the opening of the  house in all the newspapers, and waited. Within ten days there were 20 women and 35 children. The house was small and had insufficient sanitary facilities. But that did not prevent the women from coming and staying. Many of them had been abused for more than ten years and had tried numerous times to leave.

Twelve volunteers work in the house, of whom 4 work exclusively with the children. We apply a few work principles whose goal is a) to bring the problem to light in its full extent, and b) to make women capable of leading their own lives.

• we have no limit on admissions.
• the address of the house is secret.
• visitors are not allowed.
• no information is given out.
• the residents decide and control what goes on in the house. Once a week there is a house meeting in which all problems are discussed that go along with a large number of people living together. This includes housecleaning, answering the telephone, repairs, provision of essential supplies, problems with doctors and lawyers, etc.
• there is no limit on length the of stay .
• we work only with the woman, not with the husband/boyfriend.

With the opening of the house, the problem of the abuse of women was opened for discussion. The "outside world" reacted in various ways. Up to now, only a few institutions have respected the house and its residents. The police never fail to appear when we call them. Two social service centers function as referral and information centers. The Welfare Department considers the women as living independently and pays them on that basis. The city offered us a good house. The municipal health service, on our request, made available a medical team especially for the children. Individuals reacted with donations of money, needed articles, and sometimes volunteer services such as child care.

But most of the reactions have been negative. Criticisms range from claims that our house is dirty and unhealthy (no one questions whether it is unhealthy that so many women are abused every day) , to claims that the presence of Surinamers causes an increase in violence (in fact, only 1/10 of the women in the house are married to Surinamers) .

Still another criticism is that we don't give any effective help, since "those men are going to re-marry and will then abuse their next wife". According to this argument, we "don't approach the problem structurally enough". This says that the situation of women can be improved only if the man changes. We say that the women can improve their own situation regardless of whether the man changes.

Saying "stay away from my body" is the first step. And as always, the first step paves the way for the second.

"Blijf van m'n Lijf", c/o JAC, Amstel 30, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (JAC is one of the social service centers mentioned which operate as referral centers for the house) .

Refuges: Canada

We have brief information about two refuges. It is not clear whether they are feminist initiatives or not.

Hiatus House, 644 California, Windsor, Ontario, (tel: 253-2197). This is a joint project of the Council for Separated Women, Community Law Program, Legal Assistance of Windsor, and Student Legal Aid; and is an emergency shelter for battered women and their children. It offers a 24-hour a day service operated with the help of volunteers working in a wide variety of capacities. It is a temporary residence for 3-6 week periods with a capacity for four families. Started in July 1976. (ISIS 264)

Interval House, 596 Huron Street, Toronto, is a non-profit residential center for women and children in crisis. It is a member agency of the United Way and receives a yearly allocation from the United Community Fund of Metro Toronto which covers a part of the yearly budget Started in 1972 by a group of women who wished to provide a temporary shelter for sole-support mothers and children who found themselves in a housing crisis because of desertion, battering, eviction etc. (ISIS 265)

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS

A Women's Aid group in Quebec has just received a Canadian Government grant to establish a house for battered women in the Montreal area.

Women's Aid, 4241 St. Laurent Street, Apt. 1, Montreal, Quebec.

France: Campaigns for refuges

In Paris and Strasbourg, two groups called "SOS Femmes" have been set up within the last two years to respond to women in need of help. Both groups are related to the "Ligue du droit des Femmes" of which Simone de Beauvoir is the President. The group in Strasbourg have produced a report titled "Eight months of activity" (November 1975 - June 1976) which explains how they began.

In August 1975 a woman died in strange circumstances some kilometers away from Strasbourg. After being violently beaten by her husband, she "fell" from a window. Two women, Annick and Francine, wrote a letter to Madame Schultz, Regional Delegate on the Condition of Women (la Condition Feminine) asking for more legal information on the death of this woman and for the opening of a refuge for battered women.

At first, the official response was very cool, and in the meantime a group of feminists established a nightly telephone service (along the same lines as the one in Paris) called "SOS Femmes Alternative". This was in November 1975, and they were immediately swamped with calls.

By the end of the year, Madame Schultz had conducted a survey among doctors, and found that every doctor in the region receives at least five cases of battered women per year. Multiplied by 2000 (the number of practicing doctors), this means at least 10,000 battered women for the region of Alsace alone. The survey did not deal at all with abused children. Madame Schultz was convinced of the magnitude of the problem and agreed to help the group find a building which could be used as a refuge. This has been extremely difficult. The Strasbourg authorities are not sympathetic to SOS femmes group and seem ready to help only if there is sufficient money, which of course the group does not have.

It is now over a year since the struggle for a refuge started. Now the delegate for the condition of women .in Alsace has been asked to bring together all those groups who could be involved in financing a refuge (the State and Urban Authorities). It seems that promises have now been made...

SOS Femmes Strasbourg, c/o F. Haettel,   Paste Restante Principale, F-67000 Strasbourg (tel: 61 26 02). Their report entitled 8 mois d'activite deals in more detail with the way they operate, some of the cases they have dealt with, the legal group and more extensive reasons for the urgent need of a refuge. (ISIS 297)

SOS Femmes Alternative - Ligue du droit des Femmes, 96 Bvd. Massena, 9 Villa d'Este, F.75013 Paris. They produce a regular journal Les Nouvelles Feministes which frequently reports on the SOS Femmes groups.

Refuges: Norway

"In Oslo the founding of a Women's Refuge has started. Just after the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Brussels (March 1976) , three women came together, and this group soon grew to a group of 80. We rented a room, installed a telephone, and from February 1st there have been two women answering the telephone from 7 pm to 7 am every night.

"In this period we have had a lot of calls from battered and/or raped women, and we have been able to offer them some support and advice . In some cases the women have wanted to report the crimes to the police, and in these cases women from the Center have accompanied them. This kind of assistance has helped these women enormously, but it seems to have had little influence up to now on the police attitude towards the victims of rape and battering.

"Since we have only got one room for the Center, we have almost no possibility to house the women. One year ago we sent a letter to the head of the housing division of Oslo, asking for a house for a refuge. We've had very little response so far, but we are continuing the work in this field, and appealing to Members of Parliament:.

"Norway is a country of 4 million inhabitants, half a million of whom live in the capital. Thus the extent of violence is perhaps not so great as in many other countries. But the discrimination against women, and the prejudices met by the victims of violence against women are very hard to fight. And the amount of this violence can be measured by the number of telephone calls to our Center. This indicates that a women's refuge is badly needed." (from a letter just received at ISIS)

Krisetelefonen for Kvinner, c/o JURK, P.O. Box 6898, St. Olavs Plass, NOSLO 1, Norway.

Refuges: Switzerland

Geneva : At the beginning of this year, a Genevoise woman, Genevieve Piret, started "Terre des Femmes" following her successful effort to release a woman from prison in France.

Since then, other women have joined Genevieve and one of the principle actions of "Terre des Femmes" is "SOS femmes battues" (SOS battered women). The group consists of several women, some of whom have themselves been battered, who - for the moment - run a 24-hour telephone service completely on a voluntary basis. (022/31 38 97). They give legal and medical advice and especially moral support and provide some kind of lodging in case of urgent need. Since this service has become known, and especially following a one-hour television program at the beginning of May (see inset), "SOS femmes battues" has been inundated with calls. The main concern of the group now is to get a house which can operate as a refuge. They have already requested a house from the "Commission des Petitions", but it seems this will be a long drawn-out process.

The Commission's main objections to helping "SOS femmes battues" are that they (the group) have no money, they are set up non-hierarchically (with no specific organizational structure), they had copied other countries. The attitude appears to be that women have always been battered so why worry about them now,and that the group should not duplicate official services. As a foot note to this last point, Genevieve says that some of the social service departments are actively referring women to "SOS femmes battues" because they do not know how I do not want to deal with them.

Zurich : The situation of battered women came into the open in April 1977 when a member of Parliament, Armand Meier, made public the figures from the Bureau of Social Services in Zurich. Between January and March this year, 20 % of the women seeking help from the marriage counseling services of Zurich reported that they are frequently beaten.

A group of women who are continuously in contact with such cases (social workers, lawyers, teachers, pastors and psychologists) have now formed "Ve rein zum Schutz Misshandelter Frauen" (Association for the protection of abused women), which has its origins in the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Brussels, March 1976. (see ISIS Bulletin Nr 1). They have decided first t o conduct a survey based on informal interviews and discussions in the places where the members of the group work. Their results will be published this summer, but they can already state confidently that there are many women every week who seek advice from official departments and bureaux about their violent marriages which probably indicates a much greater number, since people do not easily seek advice from official sources about "personal" problems.

Femmes Suisses No.5 (May 1977) deals with the situation in Switzerland, Germany and England, including the law in Switzerland. c/o Claudine Richoz, 9 rue du Velodrome, 1205 Geneve (tel: 022/,29 19 04) . (ISIS 296)

Terre des Femmes/SOS Femmes Battues, c/o Genevieve Piret, 3 avenue Weber, Gen Geneve (tel: 022/31 38 97)

S'Rote Heftli No. 6 (June 1977), deals with violence in the family in Switzerland and a report on the Zurich group. c/o Elfi Schopf, Zentralsekretariat SPS,
Pavillonweg 3, 3012 Bern (tel: 031/ 24 11 16) • (ISIS 294)

Refuges: West Germany

West Berlin: On 1st November 1976 a women's refuge was opened in West Berlin by 8 women who had been working as psycho log is ts, social workers, lawyers and doctors. It seems that even weeks before the official opening of the refuge, the first women came along, camping among the construction. After some battles, a television program and the sudden realization at the time of elections that this was an issue with popular appeal, the Federal Government awarded an annual grant of DM 450,000 (approx. US$180,000) for three years, after which time the Berlin authorities and the refuge have to assume responsibility for their finances. The means, though, that the State has some control over the house via a State elected support association, consisting of six "public" women.

By the end of January this year, 193 women and approximately 300 children had been taken in. The house is already too small. By its nature it must be a temporary lodging for battered women, which means that another intermediate house (or houses) is needed from which women can get their bearings and decide their future.

Other initiatives: At the end of November 1976 a meeting of women from 8 towns (Bielefeld, Bonn, Koln, Braunschweig, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hannover and Munster) agreed on three basic principles for the organization of refuges. These were:

1. refuges are not foyers nor charitable asylums

2. there is no restriction on the acceptance of women concerned

3. abuse and battering are not private problems but ones of society and should thus be resolved by society.

The women therefore demand public aid and financial support.

Unlike the refuge set up in Berlin, however, this group of women do not want to begin by contacting State authorities for financial aid, The essential support that the women's movement can give to battered women, they feel, is to get local help from lawyers, doctors, public assistance and educational establishments.

Contact/coordination: Vuisiekhof 57, D-48 Tel: 0521/10 27 74 Michaela HUBER, BIELEFELD 1, FRG

COURAGE, Oct. 1976 gives an analysis of the politics of the refuge in Berlin, information about the Amsterdam house and action taken in Germany. Bleibtreustr. 48, D-1 Berlin 12 (tel: 883 65 29) (ISIS 244 & 245)

EMMA - Zeitschrift fur Frauen von Frauen, March 1977 (pp 6-13) gives a personal testimony account from women in the refuge (Berlin) , together with a page on German law. Kolpingplatz 1 a, D- 5000 Koln 1 (tel: 0221/21 95 13) (ISIS 295)

l' INFORMATION DES FEMMES, April 1977, gives a report on the developments in Germany. 14 rue Saussier-Leroy, F- 75017 Paris (tel: 01/622 34 23)

USA refuges: Problems and Possibilities

The following is an edited account of how one group in Cambridge Massachusetts formed and became operational, taken from a letter written towards the end of 1976.

Transition House first opened in January of 1976 in a small five room apartment of two local feminists. Mothers who had been battered themselves or seen their children battered by violent husbands, they understood the need for safe, temporary shelter for battered women and their children.

The House was soon full, accommodating as many as 25 women and children at a time, in lofts built in the third bedroom, and mattresses and couches in the living room and kitchen. Women were referred from social service agencies, legal aid offices, welfare departments and police departments all over the city of Boston as well as from other parts of Massachusetts and even out of state. About half the women stayed from two to four weeks or more, until they could get a job or welfare and find their own apartment. The other women stayed for several days only, until they could find friends or relatives to stay with, or obtain a "get-out order" or temporary restraining order and return to their homes.

Since the philosophy behind the House was that battered women's greatest needs in times of crisis are for shelter in a supportive, self-help environment, the only services offered in the House, in addition to the emotional support, encouragement and shelter which were integral to the House, were referrals to agencies that were found to be of help (welfare, legal, counseling, etc. if the women chose to go there) and advocacy if the women wanted someone to go with them when they went. Much of the advocacy and support work was done by other women staying in the House, and this spontaneous process of women in crisis helping each other helped to create the supportive environment that gave women the strength and courage they needed to make difficult decisions in times of crisis.

Funding

The House received no formal funding for the first five months that it operated. The women staying in the House were asked to contribute when they could, but many women felt that they weren't able to at the time. They were also asked to share all the cooking, cleaning, child-care, etc., but much of this work ended up falling on the least  aggressive least vocal women who were around the house most often. Everyone staying at the House, as well as an additional group of 10-25 women, took part in staffing.

In June, it was decided to close the House down for a month, to look for a larger space, and to reorganize with a structure that could accommodate more volunteers, and insure that chores within the House were more equitably divided. At the same time, a racist neighbor put pressure on the landlord to close the House. He was able to do so because 23 the number of people staying there was clearly violating health codes. However, the City offered no help in relocating or funding to enable the group to buy or rent a larger space. So the House was not able to reopen until a new space was found, and much of the summer was spent looking for a new place, fund raising and working on the Women Support Women march and rally.

Due to the publicity surrounding the march and rally, many people became more aware of the problem of wife abuse and wanted to help the efforts of the House in any way that they could. Four small local foundations gave the house sufficient financial support and Transition House reopened the last week of September, 1976. Within two weeks it was completely full with donations of furniture, bedding etc.

Although women staying at the House are responsible for their own child-care, which often involves sharing child~care with other women staying in the House when women need to go to legal aid, court etc., the house is also trying to organize a child-care program. This is very important, not only to free up the mothers, but because the children have great emotional needs during these times of crisis. Some of the older boys, particularly, have already learned to "resolve" situations of conflict with physical force, which they often perpetrate on younger siblings. Most of the child care workers at the House are gentle, sensitive men, who will, hopefully, through example and their work with the children, show them that it is possible to be male and not be violent and oppressive towards women.

The women staying in the House are responsible for their own child-care, housework, food buying and preparation, etc. Weekly sign-up schedules facilitate the equitable distribution of these chores, and weekly house meetings are held to discuss problems. Women with some source of income (job, unemployment, welfare, etc.) are asked to contribute $1.50 per day per family for rent, which helps pay the utility bills. Women also pay $1.25 a day per person into a food can which they use to do all the  shopping for the house. A woman comes to the House twice a week to discuss with the women staying here progress they're making in finding new housing, getting the legal help they need, and keeps track of what has and hasn't been paid. Many of the residents and staff also participate in paid speaking engagements on wife abuse and Transition House.

Guidelines

The House now has guidelines to which a woman must adhere if she wishes to remain in the House . Most of the women staying at Transition House have welcomed this because they felt that they helped to insure their own safety and the ongoing work of the House . No person may give out the address to anyone. No violence by word or deed is permitted, nor are alcohol or drugs allowed on the premises . Women with severe emotional , drug or alcohol problems that the House is not equipped to deal with, are referred to other programs which can be of more help. The maximum stay at the House is six weeks, and although women may return a second time for a shorter stay, they can't return a third time. This guideline was made to prevent women from staying with violent husbands and using the House as a temporary shelter every time they get beaten up, while not resolving their situations. Women must contribute their share of the housework, and not run up a bill of over $20 to the House unless they haven't yet received any form of income.

Although the House has lists of agencies that do counseling, only a few women have ever expressed an interest in going to formal counseling. Most of them felt that they did not have a problem - it was their husbands who had the problem and needed counseling. They also felt that the support they received in the House was more what they needed.

Transition House, c/o Woman's Center, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139 , USA. (tel: 661-7203)

USA: National Communication network for elimination of violence against women

During the past two years, while the movement to end woman abuse has come to the forefront, many groups in the United States and Canada working to establish refuges and task forces, to draft legislation, to raise consciousnesses , etc. have felt frustrated by a sense of isolation. Until Betsy Warrior's national directory Working on Wife Abuse came out (April 1976) there was no formal mechanism for groups to be informed about and contact each other.

A national communication network has now been created to facilitate dialogue among women working to eliminate male violence against women, particularly domestic violence.

The network is collectively run among the women working on woman abuse, with the book-keeping and mailing list centrally coordinated in one location. A newsletter will be published bi-monthly and the task of putting this together will be rotated among existing groups. Subscriptions are US$5.00 per year and the mailing list thus generated will not be used for any other purpose.

The first issue of the newsletter came out in April 1977 and carries brief and important news about activities in the different States. It will obviously become an invaluable resource and network within the States, and helpful elsewhere too. (ISIS 282)

Subscriptions to: Bernice Sisson, 932 Westminster Street, St. Paul, Minn. 55101, USA.

And while research is very important and necessary, at the same time it is even more important and necessary to stress that there are no wizards and experts who have got 7.the answers" and that in one very. real way battered women are the only experts on their own situation.

Elisabeth Wilson

Letter from B.F.S., Republic of Cameroon

"I am very interested in anything that concerns women and I would like to participate in any discussion or research that reveals women's problems in other cultures.

Women beating in the Cameroon dates from the beginning of the society. Traditionally, the men pay large sums of money to the parents of the girls before they are allowed to marry. Therefore, the men own the women for they have bought them, just like shoes, cars or other property. They feel th~y can beat them as much as they like - after all, it is 'their money.'

It cannot be said that it is done by the educated or uneducated men, rural or town men. It is a very common habit. In both cases the men like to dictate to their women, make them overwork themselves and 'obey' the men without questions, to be accepted as good wives. For the rural woman this means toiling in the garden, carrying the produce on her head to town markets to sell and give money to her husband. This would be done in addition to her housework in which her husband does not make any effort to help.

For the working class woman she is expected to give her salary to her husband every month and then ask for her pocket money. She may have somebody to help her in her domestic work.

It is almost socially accepted that husbands should and can beat their wives. Wives dare not retaliate even if they are able. The woman is only expected to yell for help or run to her parents or any relative she prefers. Thus the men stand out clearly as 'almighty family heads'. Women are generally portrayed as weak domestic workers and 'sexual instruments'. 

Motives for wife beating are many and varied. The common ones are: if a man suspects his wife of having an affair (his wife is not supposed to say anything against his having affairs); when he may want food and it is not ready; when produce from her garden is not sold and the money given to him; if she fails for one reason or another to satisfy him sexually, etc.

Women have no special place to go for help if they are constantly beaten. There is a new Social Welfare service, but the personnel are not well trained and find difficulties in handling such problems. In many cases neighbors and relatives go to rescue the woman once they notice she is being beaten by her husband.

Nowadays, many women retaliate by spoiling or damaging valuable property in the house instead of attacking the man. In a few polygamous homes, wives may team up
to defend their colleague, but this is very rare as the men often try to keep 25 their wives apart by showing more love to one or by refusing to let them co-operate
in anything.

I conducted a test in my class which might help to throw more light on this issue. Out of 25 students, 22 had seen husbands beating their wives; 21 had seen cases where neighbors or relatives helped the wife; 9 had seen cases where women tried to retaliate or damage household property.

I hope this will give you a vivid picture of the situation here."

(May 1977)

BOOK REVIEW

GEWALT GEGEN FRAUEN, Erica Fischer, Brigitte Lehmann, Kathleen Stoffl, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Kbln, 1977. 123 pages (in German) .

In the introduction to this book on violence against women, the three authors place the crux of the problem on the oppression of the family as being the "private domain" where all is permitted and untouchable by law and society. They emphasize that more than half the rape cases occur within families or communities where people are know to each other.

Identifying three areas of violence against women - wife beating, rape and the health system - the authors draw extensively on the personal testimonies of women at the Brussels Tribunal of Crimes Against Women (March 1976) to demonstrate how isolated women are, and how they have little or no recourse to the legal system. There is an important emphasis in each section, however, on what women all over the world are actually doing to counteract this violence. This covers women's aid refuges, rape crisis centers, self defense and self-help.

The material is well presented, giving details and statistics about laws and exploding myths, yet avoiding long arguments and dry facts; Indeed, they point out that most "research" done until now in this area has been carried out in a strictly academic and male-oriented way.

A final section deals with the women's movement - individual, national and international aspects. The description is powerful, but the authors do not have any illusions about easy remedies. We have a major, task, they say, in constantly and continuously bringing the issue of violence into the public eye, and taking action on bot.:, national and international levels. 

Available from:

FRAUENZIMMER/BUCHCAFE, Lange Gasse 11 A-1080 WIEN, Austria tel: 43 96 685)

Major Resources

The following is a complete listing of all the documents we are holding at ISIS on the subject of women battering. They are listed in order of their entry into the ISIS information system, since more specific listing under relevant subject matter is done elsewhere in this bulletin.

Anyone wishing to obtain copies of the documents listed here should where possible apply directly to the publishing organization (the addresses are always listed where available). ISIS does not normally lend copies of documents, but will, in some cases, provide photocopies of material at a cost of S.Fr.0.50 centimes (including postage). If you are an ISIS subscriber, this service is free up to 10 pages.

212
Jones, Barbara, "The Wife Killers", Vashti's Voice No. 7 (June-July 1974) Australia. English, 1/2 page. A/f: 50 Little Latrobe St., Melbourne 3000, Australia

213
Thompson, Louise, "Will Battered Women be Thrown to the Bureaucrats?" Majority Report V.6, No. 12 (Oct. 16-29 1976) USA. English 1/2 page.
A/f: Women's Center, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA

216
Faulder, Carolyn and Christine Jackson and Mary Lewis, The Women's Directory, Virago, London 1977. English, pp 139- 144.

219
Warrior, Betsy, "Battered Lives", The Second Wave V.4, No. 2 (1975) USA. English, 9 pp. Also in Houseworkers Handbook, Cambridge, 1974. English, pp 25-46.
A/f: Women's Center, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA

220
Transition House, Transition House Letter (Fall 1976) USA. English, 6p.
A/f: Women's Center, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA

221
Kobus, Elisabeth, (Blijf van m'n Lijf Newsletter) (1975) Holland. English, 9p.
A/f: Blijf van m'n Lijf, c/o JAC, Amstel 30, Amsterdam, Holland

222
A Woman's House, (Funding Appeal Letter) (1973) USA. English, 2p.
A/f: Women's  Advocates, 57 s. Avon no. 3IB, St. Paul, Minn. 55105, USA

223
Goodman, Emily Jane, "Abused by her Husband and the Law", New York Times (Oct. 7, 1975) USA. English, lp.

224
Livingston, Nancy, "Wife Beating Looms as Major City Crime", St. Paul Sunday Pioneer Press (Dec. 1974) USA. English, 2p.

225
Edmiston, Susan, "The Wife Beaters", Woman's Day (March 1976) USA. English, 3p.

226
___ , "Focus on Change in Seattle, Shelter for Abused Women", Majority Report (Jan. 1, 1975) USA. English, lp. (Reprinted from Pandora, feminist newspaper published in Seattle, Washington)

227
Personal Communication from Florence Morganroth, Citizens Dispute Settlement Centre, Metro Justice Bldg., 1351 NW 12 St., Miami, Florida 33125, USA. English, 2p.

228
Barden, Jim and Carolyn, "The Battered Wife Syndrome", Viva, (undated) USA. English, 3p.

229
Kamisher, Michele, "Behind Closed Doors: Battered Women", The Real Paper (Feb. 6, 1976) Boston, USA. English, 4p.

230
Suzanne, McClintock, "The Beaten Woman", Pittsburgh Magazine (Nov. 1975) USA. English, 2p.

231
Bannon, James, Law Enforcement Problems with Intra-Family Violence, paper presented to American Bar Association Convention by the commander of the Detroit Police Dept. (Aug. 12, 1975) USA. English, 9p.

244
Dorsch, Doris, "Frauenhaus oder Krisenzentrum", Courage (Oct. 1976) Berlin, w. Germany. German, pp 3-5.
A/f: Bleibtreustr. 48, D-1 Berlin 12.

245
(Humanistic Union) , (Open Letter to Parliament), Courage (Oct. 1976) Berlin, W. Germany. German,
p6. (as above)

246
Russel, Diana and Nicole Van de Ven, Crimes Against Women: Proceedings of the International Tribunal, Les Femmes, USA, 1976. English. An extremely important book, especially as a resource for the women's movement internationally. A/f: Les Femmes, 231 Adrian Road,  Millbrae, California 94030, USA

247
Gelles, Richard J, The Violent Home, Sage Library of Social Research, USA, 1972. English.

248
Gelles, Richard, "Violence and Pregnancy: A note on the extent of the problem and needed services", cited in WIN ~ V.3, No.l (1977) USA. English

249
Metzger, Mary, "What did you do to Provoke him?", an analysis of the battered wife syndrome, New York, 19 76 . English, 25p. A/f: 277 E. 10th St., New York, N.Y. 10009, USA

250
Leghorn, Lisa, Social Responses to Battered Women, Wisconsin, USA, 1976. English, 16p.
A/f: 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA

251
Dobash, R. Emerson and Russel P. Dobash, Love, Honour and Obey: Institutional ideologies and the struggle for battered women, University of Stirling, Scotland,1976. English, 19p.

252
National Women's Aid Federation, Battered Women Need Refuges, NWAF, London, 1976. English, 46p.
A/f: NWAF, 51 Chalcot Road, London NWl, England

253
Observations on the Report from the Select Committee on Violence in Marriage, Dept. of Health and Social Security, etc., London, 1976. English, 37p.
A/f: Her !1ajesty's Sta tionery Office, 49 High Holborn, London WCl.

254
And Still You've Done Nothing, NWAF, London, 1976. English, 18p.
A/f: (as above)

255
Meredith, Eileen et al., "Women's Refuge", Spare Rib (April 1975) England. English, pp 10-14.
A/f  27 Clerkenwell Close, London ECl.

256
Frappat, Bruno, "Battered Women: social plague", Le Monde (Nov. 4, 197 5) Paris. Englisn (translation), 2p.

257
Gayford , J.J., "Wife Battering: a preliminary survey of 100 cases", British Medical Journal (Jan. 25, 1975) London. English 6p.

258
Nichols, Beverly B., "The Abused Wife Problem", Social Casework (Jan. 1976) USA. English Sp.

259
Strauss, Murray A., Sexual Inequality, Cultural Norms, and Wife Beating, Vintage Press, Washington D.C., 1976. English, 16p.

260
Gelder , Lawrence van, "Giving Battered Wives a Little Legal Clout", (unidentified newspaper article). English l/2p.

261
Gill, Tess and Anna Coote, Battered Women: How to use the Law, National Council for Civil Liberties, London, 1975 . English, 24p.
A/f: Cobden Trust, 186 Kings Cross Rd., London WCl, England

262
Barden, J.C., "Wife Beaters: Few of them ever appear before a court of law", New York Times (Oct. 21, 1974) USA. Englisn, lp.

263
Report of the Select Committee on Violence in Marriage, Report V.l (July 1975) London. English, 30p.
A/f: HMSO, 49 High Holborn, London WCl, England

267
Meier,Mary ,"Haverhill Lawyer Blasts Wife Beating",Globe (Oct. 1975) England. English l/2p.

268
Elsworth-Jones, "When Law Curbs Help for Desperate Women", (unidentified newspaper- article, May 1977) London. English, l/2p .

269
"Who Else will House Them Wives' Champion Erin Fights on", (unidentified newspaper article, May 1977) London . English, l/2p.

270
National Women's Aid Federation, Starting a Refuge, NWAF, London, n.d. English, 8p.
A/f: (see item 252)

271
Smith, Joyce and Donald c. Fraser, Philosophy of the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, (mimeographed reprint, n.d.) Calgary, Alberta. English, 8p.
A/f: Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter 938 15th Ave., SW Calgary, Alberta TZR 053, Canada

272
Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act, (Oct. 26, 1976) London. English, 4p.
A/f: HMSO, 49 High Holborn, London WCl.

273
National Women's Aid Federation, NWAF History and Function (sheet flyer, Feb. 1977) London. English, 2p. A/f: (see item 252) 274 Dobash, Rebecca and Russell, The Nature and Extent of Violence in Marriage in Scotland, Scottish Council of Social Services, Edinburgh, 1976. English. A/f: Scottish Council of Social Serv.,

275
19 Claremont Crescent, Edinburgh, Scotland. Scott, Ann, "Injunction Kit for Battered Wives", Spare Rib No. 30 (1974) London. English, p.20 Injunction Kit
A/f: Paddington Neigh-hood Law Center, 465 Harrow Rd., London WlO, England.

276
Muir, Ingrid, "Refuge for Dundee", Spare Rib No. 50 (Sept. 1976) London. English, p.28. A/f: (see item 255) 277 "Grimsby: squatting a center", Spare Rib No. 46 (May 1976) London. English, p.20. A/f: (see item 255)

278
Shae, Violence in Marriage, London, 1975. (Housing report). English, 36p.
A/f: Shac, 189a Old Brampton Road, London SW5, England

279
McCabe , Bruce, "The Tragic Signs of Wife beating", Boston Globe (March 10, 1975) USA. English lp.

280
Warrior, Betsy, Wife Beating, New England Free Press, Mass., 1976. English, 26p.
A/f: New England Free Press, 60, Union Square, Sommerville, Mass. 02143, USA

282
National Communication Network for the elimination of violence against women, V.l No.l (April, 1977) Harriet Tubman Women's Shelter, Minneapolis and Women's  Advocates, St. Paul, Minn. USA. English, 15p.
A/f: Bernice Sisson, 932 Westminster Street, St. Paul, Minn. 55101.

283
Sheffield Women's Film Cooperative/National Women's Aid Federation, That's No Lady, (film) England, 1976. English.
A/f: (see item 252)

284
Amarasekera, Kenneth, "Four Mothers in Death Row", Weekend (May 1977) Sri Lanka. English, lp.

285
"Battered Wives: help for the secret victim next door", Ms, V.5, No.2 (Aug. 1976) New York (collection of articles and resources). English, llp.
A/f: 370 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017, USA

286
Martin, Del, Battered Wives, Glide Publication, San Francisco, 1976. English.

287
Fischer, Erica, Brigitte Lehmann, and Kathleen Stoffl, Gewalt gegen Frauen, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, K6ln, 1977. German, 123p.
A/f: Frauenzimmer-Buchcafe, Langgasse 11, lOSO Wien, Austria.

288
Warrior, Betsy, Working on Wife Abuse, (directory /resource book) , Mass. , 1976. English, 9Sp. Indispensable. A/f: Betsy Warrior, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, Mass. 02136, USA

291
Wilson, Elisabeth, The Existing Research into Battered Women: why we need research and why what exists is potentially dangerous. A reply to Dr. Jasper Gayford, NWAF, London, 1977. English, 9p. A/f: (see item 252)

292
Dobash, R.P. and R. Emerson, The Importance of Historical and Contemporary Contexts in Understanding Marital Violence, (mimeographed paper) University of Stirling, Scotland, Aug. 1976. English, 13p.

293
Pizzey, Erin, Scream Quietly or the Neighbours will Hear, Penguin, London, 1974. English, 143p. Important work.

294
"Gewalt in dwe Familie" S'rote Heftli, (June 19977), Zurich. German, 3p.
A/f: Elfi Schopf, Pavillonweg 3, Zurich , Switzerland

295
"Ein Tag in Haus Fur geschlagene Fraune". EMMA (March 1997) KOln. German, 8p.
A/f: Kolpinglatz la, D-5000 koln l, West Germany

296
Femmes Suisses (May 1977) Geneva. French, Sp. (several articles in one issue).
A/f: Claudine Richoz, 9 rue du Velodrome, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland

297
SOS Femmes Strasbourg, Huit mois d'activite (report), Strasbourg, 1976. French, 17p.
A/f: SOS Femmes, c/o F. Haettel, Poste Restante Principale, Strasbourg, France

298
Dobash, R. Emerson, The Relationship between Violence Directed at Women and Violence Directed at Children within the Family Setting; appendixes to the Minutes, Select Committee on Violence in the Family, (report), England, 1976. English, Sp.

299
Dobash, R. Emerson and Russell, The Role of the Sociologist in the Struggle of Women against Repression (mimeographed paper), University of Stirling, Scotland, Aug. 1976. English, l8p.

304
Response to intrafamily violence and sexual assault, Center for Women Policy Studies, Washington (bimonthly newsletter). English.
A/f: 200 P Street N.W., suite 50S.
Washington D.C. 20036, USA

307
Scottish Women's Aid, Battered Women in Scotland: your rights and where to turn for help, Scottish Women's Aid, Edinburgh, 1976. English. A/f: Ainslie House, 11 St. Colme St., Edinburgh, Scotland