Articles
The Shelter has been run for almost 25 years now, in the beginning as a grass root organization, established by politically aware women and women who had been victims of domestic violence themselves. This was back in 1982 and the subject of domestic violence had not been discussed openly and as a matter of fact, many believed that domestic violence did not exist in Iceland and had a hard time believing that this was a widespread problem with horrific and long lasting affects to the victims.
These brave women put an ad in the newspapers for an open meeting to see what response they would get and to their surprise and delight, more than 200 members signed up at the meeting.
The next step was to introduce the subject to the authorities, look for a suitable house and hire staff. This took only 6 months and in Desember 1982 the Shelter was opened.
It prooved that grass root was a very suitable form to establish the Shelter, it gave all these willing and able hands a chance to work for a good cause and ideas and resources were free flowing. In 1995 it was time for a change, the Shelter had earned its place as a valuable part of the social service, that is provided by the community, the funding was more or less secure and a more structured form was called for. The Shelter is now run as a self-owned establishment with a board of 5 members. The staff consist of 10 people; manager of the Shelter, 5 advisors, housekeeper, teacher, office manager and a public relations person.
At the beginning all that could be provided was a shelter and support for the women and their children who had to leave their homes because of violence and abuse. As the Shelter served women from all over the country, we soon discovered that more service was needed for those children who could not attend their own school while staying here. We now employ a teacher with full credentials who assists the children with their studies, usually in cooperation with their own teacher. We also have sepirate premises for the children outside the Shelter, which serve as a classroom and facilities for preschoolers.
One evening a week we have an ,,open house" where women who have left the Shelter can come to visit.
Getting out of an abusive relationship is in many cases a long process. It was therefore ovbious that many women need assistance for some time after they leave the Shelter. Besides the ,,open house" they can also come for interviews and support as long as they need. Many women choose not to come to the Shelter to stay, but prefer too work their way out of the problem from their own home with the assistance of our staff. They come for councelling and they can also come to the ,,open house" and meet other women in similar circumstances.
Running a Shelter for battered women is our main purpose. Physical abuse is only part of it, but emotional abuse is a more common problem. Less than 40% of the women who come to the Shelter show physical signs of abuse
