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Women’s Shelters

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A women's shelter is a place of temporary refuge and support for women escaping violent situations, such as [Pagelink infos="Rape|rape"], and [Pagelink infos="Domestic violence|domestic violence"].

Shelters provide a safe place of refuge for battered women. Women who have experienced physical and / or psychological abuse may seek support and refuge at a shelter. Women seeking help may decide themselves, whether they wish to stay for a shorter or longer period of time. They may also choose to just visit and speak to a shelter worker for counseling, or seek counseling over the telephone.
<div id="toc">
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_history"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></a>
<ul>
	<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#w_united-states"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">United States</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#w_norway"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Norway</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#w_australia"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">[Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Australia"]</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_sources"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> Referen<span class="toctext">ces</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="w_history">History</h2>
<h3 id="w_united-states">United States</h3>
Prior to the 1970s, [Pagelink infos="Domestic violence|domestic violence"] was not publicly discussed and women had no outlet to escape to. With the emergence of the [Pagelink infos="Feminism|women's movement"], domestic abuse came more to the fore, and was an important catalyst for the establishment of shelters for battered women. In the [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the United States of America of America of America|Gender Equality in the United States of America of America"], there were no battered women's shelters prior to the early 1970s - today, there are more than 1,500 shelters which welcome men, women and children,who have been victims of domestic violence.The first women's shelter opened in 1972 in Urbana, Illinois, founded by Cheryl Frank and Jacqueline Flenner.
<h3 id="w_norway">Norway</h3>
In [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Norway|Gender Equality in Norway"], the movement to push for women's shelters also began in the 1970s. A group of Norwegian women attended a Tribunal on violence against women in Brussels, in 1976. On their return to Norway, the Norwegian women established, with the help of private funding, the first telephone line for battered women, in Oslo in 1977. During the course of that year, all the calls to the crisis telephone line were registered. Wife abuse in Norway was thus documented and taken up as an issue for public debate and placed on the political agenda. The issue was taken up for debate in Parliament. Women from all the political parties saw the need for establishing shelters for battered women, and unanimously supported the call to ear-mark public funding for the running of these shelters. The first shelter with public funding was thus established in Oslo in 1978. Today there are 50 shelters and 5 crisis telephones in Norway.
<h3 id="w_australia">[Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Australia"]</h3>
The first shelter established for victims of domestic violence opened in 1974 in the [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Australia|Sydney"] suburb of Glebe. The Elsie Refuge started when a group of feminist activists squatted a housing commission property in Glebe and set up the refuge in response to the lack of services and support available to women and children suffering from domestic violence. Initially, there was no support from governments, with the staff at the centre providing security with nothing more than a cricket bat. The Whitlam Government granted funding to the service in 1975.
<h2 id="w_sources">References</h2>
<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/issuespaper1.pdf">Australian Domestic and Family Violence</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.krisesenter.com/english/english.html">www.krisesenter.com/english/english.html</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.turningpoint6.com/pages/history.shtml">http://www.turningpoint6.com/pages/history.shtml</a></li>
</ul>
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