Introduction by Charles E. Corry, Ph.D.
Introduction by Charles E. Corry, Ph.D.© 2002 Equal Justice Foundation
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| Chapter 6 — Shelters For Battered Women |
Billions have now been spent establishing shelters for battered women. Such shelters can presently be found in virtually all metropolitan areas. However, there are increasing questions about their effectiveness both in terms of cost, results, and credibility.
We think few begrudge the money spent to provide a safe haven for women and children in distress. Since long before the sinking of H.M.S. Birkenhead, our society has put the safety of women and children first. Indeed, any society that is to survive must make the safety of pregnant women and children one of its first priorities.
Today, despite every indication that crime in general is dropping, e.g., see Crime and Justice in Colorado: 2008-2010, we are met with a barrage of propaganda indicating that domestic violence is an ever increasing problem. Factoids such as “One in four of American women reports that she has been physically abused by husband or boyfriend.” “One third of all emergency room visits by women are the result of domestic violence.” And the list of abuses seems to grow exponentially until every man is a “ batterer” and every woman a “victim.” Common sense has disappeared in mass hysteria and ever-broadening definitions in the law of what constitutes domestic violence and abuse.
When the source of such hysteria is sought, one primary origin keeps showing up: Women who operate shelters for battered women. And underlying their utterances is an ever increasing appetite for public funding by which they make their living.
The same appetite for public funds can be seen in other such laudable enterprises as scientific research, flood relief, or any charitable organization. However, the bureaucracy resulting from such public funding always becomes bloated and drifts ever further from its intended purpose, whatever the original problem. So in part we are dealing with human nature.
Sadly, however, in the domestic violence arena most shelters have come to be operated by women who cling fast to a specific set of political and ideological beliefs that demonize men. As a result, any relief or treatment such shelters provide is not based on the reality of the situations the women who present to them face. And for any ideology of a true believer to persist, it must be simplified so as to avoid the nasty complications of reality. The simplest solution for gender or radical feminists has been to blame men solely and entirely for all the ills of mankind. In her book on relational aggression among females, Dellasega (2005, p. 82-83) reports that “...hurtful behaviors are almost epidemic in workplaces with a feminist philosophy,” and quotes Laura Holden about her work in a “feminist social justice organization” to the effect that:
“...I find it to be an extremely deceitful and hypocritical community, run almost entirely by females who redefine narcissism. The women I interact with in the feminist movement are employed by organizations that say the exist to 'make the world a better place' for women, yet in reality, they make the world a living hell for women they interact with. Simply put, it is unacceptable for men to oppress women, but it is perfectly acceptable, even expected, for women to oppress other women.”
Repeatedly we find stories of women who have gone to such shelters in an attempt to manage their own anger being told that instead they were the “victims.” And that happens even though they admit to abusing their mates. We have found more than one story of lesbians who were afraid to go to the local shelter because their abusers worked there. Women who have simply quarreled with their intimate partners report attempts at what amounts to brainwashing when they end up at such shelters. And there are several indications that such brainwashing succeeds in many cases, especially in cases where the “victim” is all too willing to blame everyone but herself for her problems.
We also hear reports from various sources that, in addition to indoctrination and proselytizing, shelters subject women who go to them to abuse and intimidation by other women who are either on the staff or staying at the shelter, and act as centers for lesbian seduction as well.
We do not think there is much public support for corrupting women's shelters into centers for Marxist ideology that promotes hatred and strife between man and woman, and proposes to substitute lesbianism for heterosexual relationships.
Many people, of both sexes, who have achieved any degree of maturity have male friends, relatives, acquaintances, or associates who have been abused or battered by wives, girlfriends, or female relatives. Their personal experience denies the feminist mantra that it is always the man who batters, and the woman who is the victim.
Our tradition of providing a refuge for women and children, and taking them to that safe harbor in times of danger, has been turned on its head by current domestic violence laws. Instead, when police are called today it is the male who is jailed and barred from his home. The woman is thus left in the place where she claims to be in danger. That violates the patrimony, evolved from biological necessity, we have of providing protection for women. And if the man is removed, and the omnipresent restraining orders are effective, why is a woman's shelter needed at all?
It is a tragedy that such a noble goal has been so corrupted by a venal few for their political and personal gain. But the problems of helping abused women, children, and men persists and begs for real, functional solutions.
On the following pages we examine the history of such shelters, and what has been discovered by a preeminent worker in the field. Our hope is that useful solutions to the problem of domestic violence may be implemented.
| EJF Home | Find Help | Help the EJF | Comments? | Get EJF newsletter | Newsletters |
| Domestic Violence Book | DV Site Map | Data tables | DV bibliography | DV index |
| Chapter 6 — Shelters For Battered Women |
This site is supported and maintained by the Equal Justice Foundation.