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The
Story page describes the history of the domestic violence movement
in the United States. The
information presented on this page is our best attempt to capture
historical events and occurrences related to the domestic violence
movement.
Important Stages of the Battered Women’s Movement in the United States Stage One: Women Break the Silence (early 1970s) Around
kitchen tables, in laundromats, in college classrooms, and at community
meetings, women began to talk with one another about a troubling reality
in their lives: that abuse, degradation, violence, and fear were hidden
dimensions of their intimate relationships.
It was not individual abrogation, but an experience shared by
hundreds of women in any given neighborhood or community. These
first discussions put a name to this hidden issue, and women began to
talk publicly about “domestic violence.”
We began to talk, and to work together to respond—neighbor to
neighbor, sister helping sister.
The first stage had a distinct self-help focus with emphasis on
consciousness-raising at the group level. Once
feminists encouraged battered women to “speak out” and tell their
stories, as women in the anti-rape movement had done, the circumstances
of the battered woman and the rape survivor proved remarkably alike.
Both were doubted and disbelieved, both were charged with making
false accusations, both were blamed for provoking the violence, both
were said secretly to enjoy it, both were blamed for not preventing it
themselves, both were shamed into silence—both were victimized by
unrestrained male power.
And as more and more abused women spoke out, the numbers began to
add up: millions of women of all races and social classes isolated with
the men who abused them in individual homes all across the
country—with no place to go.1 This
early movement took its shape from the form and substance of women’s
stories of abuse and degradation at the hands of their husbands and
boyfriends, and found its energy in the pain and strength of women’s
voices as they shared their lives with one another.
Stage Two: Women Needs for Safety Were Recognized (mid- to late 1970s, through early 1980s) As
the silence was broken, the need for services was identified as a
collective issue, rather than as an individual need.
A primary focus of stage two of the movement was to create safe
spaces to which abused women could escape when home was no longer safe.
The first safe houses were literally in women’s homes, opened
up to other women and children in danger.
Gradually, as the secrecy and shame shrouding domestic violence
was challenged by battered women speaking out, the demand for safe,
temporary housing became too great; the first battered women’s
shelters were borne of extreme need. Small,
home-like structures were established where women could find support,
guidance, and hope from other women facing the same struggles.
The model was one of self-help and empowerment, emphasizing
safety planning and healing through peer support. We
want women to be able to take control of their own lives and share in an
environment, which supports their doing just that. For many women and children, being at the shelter may be the
first time they have been outside the controlling authority of an
abusive relationship. Each
woman who lives and works in the shelter is encouraged to trust herself
to make decisions, which are best for her.2 Links
to other issues (like sexual assault) were made. Women began to articulate the problem of violence against
women as a crime, and organizing spread beyond the local level to
statewide and eventually national efforts.
As the understanding of the problem of violence against women as
a social problem was refined, key dimensions were identified:
During
this phase, domestic violence was defined as a feminist issue and social
change was considered prominently among the responses.
Stage
Three: Women Demanded Accountability from the System
(mid- to late 1980s, and into the present) Battered
women and their allies realized that the issue was not only that women
were vulnerable in the private sphere, but that part of the
vulnerability was created by the lack of accountability from social
systems designed to protect citizens in general, and crime victims in
particular. Therefore, considerable effort was placed on holding public
systems accountable for safety and justice for battered women.
Advocacy work became the focus (shifting from
consciousness-raising, which characterized stages one and two). One
of the first institutions to receive the attention of the battered
women’s movement was the criminal and civil legal system, the system
to which battered women routinely turned for protection and redress.
The early and ongoing work of the movement included pressuring
many states to enact more comprehensive and effective laws against
domestic violence, including:
Domestic
violence curricula, which placed a priority on safety for victims and
accountability for the offender, were developed as part of police
training, as well as for judges, court personnel, corrections officials,
and even court translators. “Court
watch” programs were established to monitor the effectiveness of
training and the implementation of existing laws.
“Gender bias” task forces were established in many
jurisdictions to document and challenge discriminatory treatment of
battered women and their children by state and local court.
Importantly, this work proceeded with advocates voicing that
legal reforms could only work in tandem with other efforts. From
the beginning, these criminal and civil legal reforms have progressed
because of the integration of battered women’s experiences and
domestic violence advocates’ day-to-day assistance to victims.
As advocates helped women negotiate the court system, they
experienced institutional responses that were biased, victim blaming,
uncoordinated, confusing, and worse, endangering to women and children.
With this information, strategies to change public policy and
system operations were identified and prioritized.
Easy to read manuals informing women about their legal rights and
describing court policies and practices and how to access protections
and services were developed to assist women in understanding and
utilizing the system. Health
care and medical institutions also became a focus of the domestic
violence movement. Later,
child welfare agencies were identified as institutions that often
limited the options for safety and justice for battered women.
This, along with leadership from advocates working
directly with children in domestic violence shelters and programs, led
to the shift in focus from “battered women” to “battered women and
their children.” Analysis,
policy, practice, and public education efforts were targeted for change.
Stage
Four: Women’s Experiences Are Accepted as Legitimate and the Movement
Is Mainstreamed
(late
1980s into the 1990s)
Based
on the experiences and demands of battered women and her allies,
considerable changes in institutional policies and procedures were made.
The fourth stage institutionalized system accountability; the
need for safety; the rights to protection; and access to services.
Public awareness campaigns were initiated on the local, State,
and national levels.
Foundations and government agencies funded research efforts and
large projects were undertaken to identify model intervention programs.
In the 1990s, system reforms that began in the 1980s expanded
significantly and now included a focus on a broader set of systems,
including welfare systems and policy issues, such as housing, mental
health, substance abuse, and childcare.
National surveys showed the extent of the problem, which prompted
new advocates from other arenas. Grassroots
advocacy, social change, and consciousness-raising efforts shifted in
many communities to more mainstream approaches (research and evaluation,
reform, training, etc.)
Part of this shift was related to the fact that more mainstream
groups were involved in the work and did not understand or agree with
the more radical tenants of the movement.
This paradox of new tensions and tremendous opportunities led to
some strategy shifts from challenging institutions to “coordinated
community responses.”
However, key to increased public attention was sympathetic
Federal administration, congressional leadership, and the nation’s
concern about crime.
Violence against women found a home in national debates about
safety and the “rights of crime victims.”
This has had a mixed effect on our work, including further
alienation of some communities.
Stage
Five: Women Reconsider the Approaches and Return to the Issue of
Organizing (1990s to present)
There
is agreement that many women are much safer thanks to the battered
women’s movement. However, there are some places in the United States
where this work is still in its early stages: rural communities,
communities of color, Native American reservations, immigrant groups,
incarcerated women, women with disabilities and others whose unique
circumstances have lacked the attention by mainstream advocacy.
Local and national organizing efforts have renewed and have
focused on accountability, this time, for mainstream advocacy.
With the remarkable success of this anti-violence against women
movement began over 30 years ago, a network of services is now present
where there were none.
Currently, there are approximately 1,900 local domestic violence
programs and State domestic violence coalitions in every State, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
In addition, there is significant policy reform, funding for
violence against women research, and increased public awareness of a
once hidden part of daily life for countless women and their children. Prepared
by Dr. Beth E. Richie, Associate Professor of the Departments of
Criminal Justice and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at
Chicago and Ms. Anne Menard, Director of the National Resource Center on
Domestic Violence, drawing thoughts and information from other
individuals working in the domestic violence community
1 Ann Jones, Next Time She’ll Be Dead: Battering and How to Stop It (Boston: Beacon Press, 1994), page 8. 2 Women’s Advocates: The Story of a Shelter. St. Paul, MN: Women’s Advocates, 1980.
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