The Refuge : My Journey to the Safe House for Battered Women - Jenny Smith

The Refuge

My Journey to the Safe House for Battered Women

By: Jenny Smith

Paperback | 1 May 2014

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

Until 1971, female victims of domestic violence were expected to 'kiss and make up' with their husbands, hide their black eyes and bruises, and bear the shame that somehow their partners' brutality was their fault. Chiswick Women's Aid was Europe's first ever refuge for what were then called 'battered women', and Jenny Smith was one of the first females who bravely made their way to this much-needed safe house. Desperate, and in fear for her life and the welfare of her two small children, Jenny had fled her dangerously schizophrenic partner, carrying only a few possessions. In the Chiswick shelter, founded by famous women's rights campaigner Erin Pizzey, Jenny found other women in the same position, all with harrowing, extraordinary stories to tell. Amenities were basic, but the respect, kindness and humanity of the community would help to give Jenny a new lease of life and strength. When the safe house came under threat of closure, she lobbied parliament and drove across Europe in a convoy of women in camper vans to raise awareness of their plight. Jenny's story is a slice of social history that begins in a Derbyshire mining village in the 1950s and takes the reader to inner city of Hackney in the 1960s, and Jenny's heart-breaking journey to the refuge. The house was the subject of a famous documentary, Scream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear, which, when first broadcast in 1974, sent shockwaves through the UK. Jenny was one of the first women to break a taboo by speaking publicly about domestic abuse. With the new start afforded her by the refuge, Jenny went on to find love, have another child and work as a foster carer.

About the Author

Jenny Smith was born in 1946 in a Derbyshire mining village. She was one of the first residents of the Chiswick Women's Refuge, when domestic violence forced her into hiding with her children. Jenny was a long-term foster carer, is now in her sixties and lives in London.

More in Autobiographies

Big Garden Design : The making of beautiful country gardens - Paul Bangay
The Showman - Glenn Maxwell

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$33.25

10%
OFF
Night : Penguin Modern Classics - Elie Wiesel

RRP $22.99

$17.75

23%
OFF
Sociopath : A Memoir - Patric Gagne

RRP $36.99

$34.50

Showing Up : Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable - Nedd Brockmann
The Last Lecture : Lessons in Living - Randy Pausch
Letters From A Stoic : Collins Classics - Lucius Seneca
Third Time's a Charm - Fiona Brown

$26.13

Heartstrong : Chumpy, Minnie & Me - Ellidy Pullin

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Girl, Interrupted : Virago Modern Classics - Susanna Kaysen

RRP $26.99

$17.75

34%
OFF
Night : Penguin Modern Classics - Elie Wiesel

RRP $24.99

$23.75

The Happiest Refugee : My Journey from Tragedy to Comedy - Anh Do
Red Notice : How I Became Putin's No. 1 Enemy - Bill Browder
Paul Bangay : A life in garden design - Paul Bangay

RRP $79.99

$53.35

33%
OFF
Kitchen Confidential : Insider's Edition - Anthony Bourdain

RRP $24.99

$23.75