Home      Login

Abstract: 

Susan Kelly-Dreiss provides a fascinating account of the history of the domestic violence movement, which developed on the heels of the anti-war, civil rights, and gay liberation movements of the late 1960s and 1970s. From this account, we learn that a handful of determined battered women and their advocates in Pennsylvania created and stood upon the very first front line in our nation’s battle against domestic abuse. This small group started the nation’s very first battered women’s statewide network of shelters, pushed through new legislation to protect battered spouses, and brought into the public eye the previously hidden scourge of woman-abuse. In doing so, they troubled the conscience of the entire country, ultimately bringing about the system of domestic violence coalitions, shelters, and other services that are now provided to victims in every state of the nation.

Keywords: Pennsylvania’s Protection From Abuse Act (PFA); Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV); National Coalition Against Domestic Violence; National Network to End Domestic Violence; advocacy groups; Department of Public Welfare

Affiliations:  .