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A recent national survey on marriage commissioned by that highly radical journal Woman's Own, proclaimed with astonishment that 3 million women are dissatisfied with their marriage, that only three per cent of wives think women get the best deal out of marriage, that the claim that many women enjoy being beaten up as part of sexual excitement is a myth.
The survey goes on to suggest that *rather than women liking violence, they probably endure it only because they have small children and no means of supporting them, no alternative accommodation, nowhere to turn to'.
Well done Woman's Own! You have discovered that we do not actually enjoy being beaten up. But some battered women have in the recent past found a place to turn to, a place Photo: Angela Phillips (IFL)
where they can begin to think of restructuring their lives in an alternative way, sharing experiences with other women who they come together with in the battered women's refuge centres which are springing up in most areas in the country.
Since Chiswick Women's Aid was first opened in 1971, 28 women's aid centres have been established, and 83 groups are at the present time attempting to set one up. Some refuges came about from the struggle of women's liberation groups, some involve local councillors, and a few are run by the Social Services Department.
The establishment of these centres eflect a fundamental crisis in family relations which mark British society today. They provide a necessary refuge for victims of the violence inflicted in the family. But they are a stop-gap measure.
The real solution to the battering of women will come about when their role int the family is fundamentally altered. But this means we must fight for a society in which women are not forced to play the role they currently do. The frustrations and physical violence experienced by all family members can only be solved when the basis for the family is destroyed. And this means taking up now, as a matter of urgency, the beg innings of the fight to socialise domestic tasks. Feeding and caring for the family, looking after the children-all these are tasks which should be met through collectively planned solutions, not carried out by women in individual, isolated family units.
Chiswick Aid Centre: three battered women with children who took refuge at the Centre.
How does the Weltare State view these women's aid centres? And what is the role of the Social Services Department in relation to them? These were among the main themes of discussion when INGRID FALCONER talked to JO SUTTON who is National Co-ordinator of Women's Aid Centres and is based at the Wandsworth refuge.
What sort of relationship do most refuges have with the local authority?
Social Services recognise the problem of battered women but say that for them it cannot be a priority. They recognise the existence of the refuges all right-they cannot afford to ignore them because what the centres are doing is helping to alleviate a problem which the social services face.
And naturally they are only too pleased that someone is helping them to shoulder the burden. On the other hand, the local authorities are often very reluctant to provide adequate (if any) resources to groups who are struggling to set up a refuge.
### SOCIAL PROBLEM
In Exeter, for example, the council positively thrust an empty house at such a group, hoping no doubt that this would be a cheap way out of a social problem they would otherwise have to confront. But the council did not give the group a penny besides the building. The local authorities are continually complaining about overcrowding, but have never been known to actually carry out these threats. They are forced to turn a blind eye to overcrowding and any other regulations that we may be breaking because women's aid centres are filling a gap which social services cannot afford to split open again. Do you find that social workers attempt to 'rehabilitate' the women back into their marriages?
In most cases. sociat workers will try to patch up the marringe and family situation; there is also a tendency for them to place the blame at the door of the battered woman herself for things that went wrong. Sometimes social workers try to assert that had the woman fulfilled her role as wife and mother better, perhaps she could have avoided a beating. Yesin official circles the line is that you are the one at fault and that you should look to your own inadequacies as a woman.
It has been said that violence in marriage is just as rampant in the middle class as in the working class-would you say that is the case?
Well in fact we probably see many more working class women in the battered women's refuges. After all, the middle class have more alternatives. They usually have money or friends with alternative accommodation. Working class mothers don't gencrally have that alternative. They are usually in a desparate situation before they come here.
It's a big step for many women to take, to leave home. Many women will try hard for a long time to make the marriage years of violence that they come to the refuges.
Do you have trouble from the police?
Well they have a very unserious attitude to the whole problem, stemming no doubt from their view of the traditional role women should play. They treat battered women as a result of marital disputes unseriously. They do not consider it their business. They think it is every man's private affair. At the Leeds refuge recently an
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Irate husband broke down the front door, and assaulted three people including a child. It took the police 25 minutes to get there and they shrugged their shoulders and said almost disbelievingly Well he is not here now-nothing we can do about it* Do you discuss the ideas of the women's liberation movement within the refuges or do women come to develop a consciousness of aspects of women's liberation because of their own experiences without necessarily having discussed this formally?
We do not have formal discussion as such but obviously there is an invaluaual sharing of experiences. We feel it is very important to have communal decision making about the running of the house. Basically the experience of living here gives the women an awareness to do their own thing. For many of them it is the first time in years they have felt a sense of freedom, There is some talk of the possibParliamentary Select Committee on violence in marriage that social service departments take over the women's refuges that have been set dangers of being swamped by the ble learning which comes from the mutavoid it? ility of a recommendation from the up under their control. Do you see local authorities and how could you it's a continual struggle for some groups to avoid compromising themselves when dealing with the social services. Of course we want them to provide the money and resources but we cringe at the idea of having a band of wardens, strings of regulations, ete. This is what the local authorities would prefer-back to the old Salvation Army hostel image. Those refuges with a women's group in support are in a good position when dealing with social services-because the group will continually hammer home the goal we are fighting for and will fight against the compromises that might occur.
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work before taking the decision to get out. It's not usually after one beating, but after