Battered wives make a stand

Press, 3 July 1978, Page 1

Battered wives make a stand

Battered wives in Christchurch can now telephone a new group for help and support. The formation of the Battered Women’s Support Group is a result of articles on wife-bashing printed in “The Press,” and a subesquent talk-back show on wife-bashing broadcast by Radio 3ZB. The articles and the talkback had shown how widespread wife-bashing was, Dr John Church, an educational psychologist who has been helping the group, said yesterday. It was clear from the women who had come forward that wife-battering husbands existed in almost every occupational group, Dr Church said. “We have talked to women who have been kept in a constant state of

terror by husbands who are employed as policemen, lawyers, prison officers, psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors, schoolteachers, civil servants, company managers, businessmen, and bank officers.” The support group has been formed by 10 women, all of them wives who have been beaten by their husbands. The women met on Saturday, set up the two telephone numbers to Lifeline. A battered wife can immediately get in touch with the support group by ringing Lifeline on 66-743.

A woman who rings the group will be immediately put in touch with another woman with experiences similar to hers. In this way, the group would give battered wives immediate assistance, advice, and emotional support, Dr Church said. One of the organisers of the group — who has support group, and gave asked to remain anonymous because she fears reprisals from her husband — said that all the women who took part in the formation of the group had been severely assaulted by their hus-

bands on several occasions. “Each of us has had her life threatened by her husband. Every one of us was kept in a constant state of terror by her husband. One woman said her husband had used his marriage licence as a licence to run a concentration camp.” The women decided that their group should aim to support other women, and to publicise what they felt were the inadequacies of the way in which the police and the courts dealt with wife-bashing. Dr Church said that the

first main effort of the support group would be to make the public aware of how little protection existed for battered wives. Assaults against wives were pursued less diligently and punished much less severely than assaults against ordinary citizens, he said. The aims of the support group include letting battered women know of their legal rights and how to escape their husbands, nutting the women in touch with “competent and sympathetic” lawyers campaigning for family courts similar to those in

Australia, and seeking easier divorces. Dr Church said late last evening that, as a result of radio announcements of the Lifeline link with the battered wives* group, about a dozen women had been in touch with the group during the week-end. Some had offered assistance because of their own experience of domestic violence; others had sought help or advice. One woman had telephoned in a state of terror and the group responded immediately to prevent further violence In her home, said Dr Church.