1978 was a significant
year for Women's Aid in Northern Ireland, with Belfast opening a larger refuge
and new refuges opening in Coleraine, whilst the Derry refuge opened six months
earlier. Despite the availability
of refuge provision, the political climate in Northern Ireland at this time was
largely unsympathetic to the needs of abused women and children. The late 1970's was therefore a period
of intense campaigning to extend legal protection and welfare rights for women
being abused by their partners. Progress
did not always comes quickly and the significant advances during this period
were gained primarily through the efforts of Women's Aid and abused women
themselves. Sometimes the outcomes
were dramatic - a campaign resulted in the exercise of the royal perogative and
secured the release of a young woman who had been given a seven year jail
sentence for stabbing her father who had persistently sexually abused her and
other sisters.
Legal protection with
an automatic power of arrest was introduced in 1981 although co-habitees were
not included until 1983. Housing
policies were amended to include abused women and children as a priority
category. The financial position of
women and children in refuges was improved to assist with the additional
expenditure essential for living in temporary accommodation and for families
moving out to set up home on their own.
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