Women and Male Violence: The Visions and Struggles of the Battered Women's Movement

In 1976, women traveled hundreds of miles across Pennsylvania to testify at the state capitol about pending legislation affecting battered women. One woman, two years later named director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, describes this first meeting of strangers.

It was like instant sisters. It was like people struggling through a storm. We decided to meet every six weeks around the state to see each other's programs. I've never missed a meeting! ¹

By 1982, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence administers approximately two million dollars a year in state Title XX funds to its member programs, trains police and district justices around the state, administers a five-state coalition building grant and, most importantly, brings its membership together continuously for support, skills sharing, and political discussion.

In forty-eight states ² and many large metropolitan areas, women have built coalitions, organizations comprised of groups-- sometimes exclusively feminist groups and sometimes a mix of organizations--concerned about battered women. Coalition purposes are multiple and their structures and accomplishments diverse, but their importance to the movement as a whole has been

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