SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 121, 18 November 1943, Page 6

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

WOMEN AND CHILDREN

PROTECTION WORK

"Four years of war have tended to aggravate the many vexed • social problems to be faced, and although legislative changes have lessened human anxieties to a considerable degree, other abnormal conditions arise which need the society's guidance and assistance," states the annual report of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children. "In view of the crying needs of the present and immediate future, it is felt that our energy must be directed to a wise sympathy and wider understanding rather than unthinking criticism.

"Our conception of human society is not as a conglomeration of individuals, but each as a living soul seeking comfort, help, and sympathy, and it is in such a spirit that all who come to us are received, in the added security of complete confidence. "Although every endeavour is made to preserve the home and family life by keeping husband and wife together, many of our cases reach the Court, where the Magistrate is constrained to make orders of separation. Family adjustments are frequently made by either party taking a holiday, which bridges them over an emotional crisis. The need for 'someone to talk to' is widespread, and many state they feel much better for having brought their human problems to us. "The present congested state of housing is a most grave problem, without a solution of which no lasting family life can obtain. In Wellington, with vast numbers of war workers and an increased military floating population, it is more acute than ever. In the inevitable conflict brought about by cramped and unsatisfactory housing conditions, a husband will seek the counter attraction of the hotels and drink the money that virtually belongs to his wife and family, inflicting further suffering. The society has continually stressed the stricter enforcement of the liquor laws as a protection of the home and children. With the emotional tensions so greatly increased by war, the cure for intemperance is not easy, and seeing the evils wrought by drink a wider horizon and higher ideals should be instilled in our rising generation."