Timeline of Milestones

The 1970s

1972

Women’s advocates in St. Paul, Minnesota start the first hotline for battered women.

Women’s advocates and Haven House in Pasadena, California establish the first shelters for battered women.

1974

Erin Pizzey publishes Scream Quietly or the Neighbors Will Hear in England, the first book about domestic violence from the battered woman’s perspective.

1976

The National Organization for Women announces the formation of a task force, co-chaired by Del Martin, to examine the problem of battering. It demands research into the problem and money for shelters.

Del Martin publishes, Battered Wives, the first American feminist publication showing that violence against wives is deeply rooted in sexism.

Pennsylvania establishes the first State coalition against domestic violence. It also becomes the first State to create a statute providing for order of protection for victims of domestic violence.

La Casa de la Madres in San Francisco, California is opened. This was the first battered women’s shelter established by women of color.

1977

National Communications Network for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the first national newsletter on battered women, is published. The following year, it merges with the feminist, Alliance Against Rape, to publish, Aegis, the Magazine on Ending Violence Against Women, a grassroots feminist forum on rape, battering, and other issues of violence affecting women.

Oregon becomes the first State to enact legislation mandating arrest in domestic violence cases.

1978

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights holds a forum entitled Consultation on Battered Women in Washington, DC. The forum brings together hundreds of activists and results in Battered Women: Issues of Public Policy, which offers more than 700 pages of written and oral testimony.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a grassroots organization is organized and becomes the voice of the battered women’s movement on the national level. It establishes the vision and philosophy that will guide the development of hundreds of local battered women’s programs and State coalitions. It also initiates the introduction of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act in the U.S. Congress.

Rippling effects of women-led initiatives result in pioneering work in California, Washington, and Minnesota. Such initiatives led to Minnesota becoming the first State to allow probable cause or “warrantless” arrest in cases of domestic assault regardless of whether a protection order had been issued against the offender.

1979

Office on Domestic Violence is established in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but is closed in 1981.

First congressional hearings are held on the issue of domestic violence.

After 12 black women are murdered in Boston, a public outcry about the lack of media attention to violence against women of color leads to the formation of the Combahee River Collective.

The 1980s

1980

First national day of unity in October is established by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence to mourn battered women who have died, celebrate women survivors, and honor all who have worked to defeat domestic violence. National day becomes domestic violence awareness week and, in 1987, expands to a month of awareness activities.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence holds the first national conference in Washington, DC, which is attended by more than 600 battered women’s advocates from 49 States. The conference gains Federal recognition of critical issues facing battered women and inspires the creation of several State coalitions.

1982

Susan Schechter publishes Women &Male Violence: The Visions and Struggles of the Battered Women’s Movement, South End Press, Boston, Massachusetts.

60 Minutes airs a program filmed in Austin, Texas entitled, A Place to Go, describing the work of battered women’s shelters. More viewers watched that program than any other program during that television season.

1984

U.S. Attorney General establishes task force on family violence to examine scope and nature of problem. Nearly 300 witnesses provide public testimony in 6 cities. The final report offers recommendations for action in many areas, including the criminal justice response, prevention and awareness, education and training, and data collection and reporting.

Passage of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act through grassroots lobbying efforts earmarks Federal funding for programs serving domestic violence victims.

1985

Thurman v. Torrington is the first Federal case in which a battered woman sues a city for police failure to protect her from her husband’s violence. Tracy Thurman, who remains scarred and partially paralyzed from stab wounds inflicted by her husband, wins a $2 million judgement against the city. The suit leads to Connecticut’s passage of a mandatory arrest law.

U.S. Surgeon General issues report identifying domestic violence as a major health problem.

Evelyn White publishes Chain, Chain Change: For Black Women Dealing with Physical and Emotional Abuse, the first book about African American women and abuse.

1986

Children’s Hospital in Boston establishes AWAKE (Advocacy for Women and Kids in Emergencies); the first advocacy program for battered women in a pediatric setting.

New York Women Against Rape, a women of color-led organization, holds the first conference against violence for women of color.

1987

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence establishes the first national toll-free domestic violence hotline.

1988

The U.S. Surgeon General declares wife abuse as the leading health hazard to women.

The 1990s

1990

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges publishes Family Violence: Improving Court Practice.

1991

The Domestic Violence Coalition on Public Policy is formed by State coalitions to examine Native American public policy issues.

1992

Femicide: The Politics of Woman Killing, edited by Jill Radford and Diane E.H. Russell is published.

1993

In his introduction to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee report, Violence Against Women: The Response to Rape: Detours on the Road to Equal Justice, Senator Joseph Biden states, “These findings reveal a justice system that fails by any standard to meet its goals—apprehending, convicting, and incarcerating violent criminals: 98% of the victims of rape never see their attacker caught, tried, and imprisoned.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention establishes the Family Violence and Intimate Violence Prevention Team within the Division of the Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The Center begins to fund community-based prevention efforts, studies on causality and consequences of domestic violence, evaluation programs, public education, and training.

The Domestic Violence Coalition on Public Policy incorporates as the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Donna Edwards is selected as the Network’s Director, becoming the first woman of color to head a national domestic violence organization.

Funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services leads to the creation of the Domestic Violence Resource Network, which includes the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence; the Battered Women’s Justice Project; the Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody; and the Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence.

State Justice Institute funds the first national conference with multidisciplinary teams from every State. The Family Violence Project (now Fund), Urban Institute, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges jointly hosted the conference held in San Francisco.

1994

Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman are murdered in Los Angeles, California. Publicity reveals that her ex-husband, former football star O.J. Simpson, arrested and charged with the murders, is a batterer.

President Clinton signs the Violence Against Women Act as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The Act provides $156 million in State grants to bolster local law enforcement, prosecution, and victims’ services to better address violence against women.

1995

President Clinton appoints former Iowa Attorney General Bonnie J. Campbell to head the U.S. Department of Justice’s Violence Against Women Office.

Batterer Christopher Bailey becomes the first person convicted of a felony—crossing State lines (West Virginia to Kentucky) to assault his wife, Sonya Bailey—under the Violence Against Women Act.

Co-chaired by Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, the first meeting is held of the joint U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services Advisory Council on Violence Against Women.

The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community headed by Dr. Oliver J. Williams holds its first forum entitled Domestic Violence in the African American Community.

1996

The American Medical Association under the leadership of Dr. Robert McAfee launches a Campaign Against Family Violence and forms the National Coalition of Physicians Against Family Violence, as well as the National Domestic Violence Council comprised of 35 medical specialty organizations. The Association also produces Diagnostic and Treatment Guidelines on Domestic Violence and the Mental Health Effects of Family Violence.

Congress passes the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which made dramatic changes to Federal and State welfare and child support programs. As part of the Act, the Family Violence Amendment allows States to respond with more flexibility to the needs of domestic violence victims under these new welfare and child support rules and highlights critical issues for battered women’s advocates.

Dr. Beth E. Richie publishes Compelled to Crime, the Gender Entrapment of Battered Women.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-SAFE) funded by the Federal Violence Against Women Act, begins operation, responding to 8,841 calls during its first month.

1997

President Clinton signs an anti-stalking law, which makes interstate stalking and harassment a Federal offense, even if the victim has not obtained a protection order.

Sacred Hoop, the National Resource Center to End Violence Against Indian Women, begins providing technical assistance and guidance to Native communities.

Forty Latin American activists, clinicians, and researchers from the United States and Puerto Rico met in Washington, DC for the National Symposium on La Violencia Domestica: An Emerging Dialogue Among Latinos, with the support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. From this Symposium, the National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence was formed.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awards funds to Cangleska, Inc. to operate Sacred Circle, a special-issue resource center to aid tribes and tribal organizations to stop violence against Native women.

1998

The U.S. Department of Justice announces grants totaling $53.8 million for 90 jurisdictions to help investigate and prosecute domestic violence. The grants are through the Violence Against Women Act, Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies.

Asian Institute on Domestic Violence holds its first national forum on domestic violence.

The Violence Against Women Act II is introduced, calling for the reauthorization of funding scheduled to expire in the year 2000.

1999

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services, Administration on Families and Children sponsors the Next Millennium Conference: Ending Domestic Violence in Illinois to celebrate the accomplishments of the battered women’s movement and to advance work to end violence against women.

Vice President Gore announces that the Federal government will provide $233 million to help States and communities detect and stop violence against women and provide shelter for victims of domestic violence.

The Violence Against Women Act of 1999, which includes provisions to implement workplace safety programs and offers grants to create safe havens for children who witness domestic violence, is introduced on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Violence Against Women Act II, Section 51, which would extend and strengthen the original Violence Against Women Act, is introduced on the floor of the U.S. Senate.