The silenced pain: domestic violence 1945-1970

This article discusses domestic violence in the UK between 1945 and 1970 be fore the most recent burst of the women's movement. Drawing on the findings of a small-scale retrospective research study, the authors outline the pos ition of women in the new welfare state of the period and discuss employmen t, marriage, divorce, and attitudes to motherhood in relation to domestic v iolence. With attention to class and race factors, the paper goes on to des cribe the lack of services on all levels for women experiencing domestic vi olence (particularly perhaps as regards housing and the police), and the se vere impact of such violence on women at the time, from which there were fe w avenues of escape. It identifies the pride and resistance of many intervi ewees and the long-term tragedy which has imbued their lives-lives which, e ven now, so very many years later, are deeply scarred by hidden pain. The research study found a widespread and enduring silence about domestic a buse in the post-war period and the paper is an exploratory piece to assist in breaking that silence. It aims to provide a voice for the women intervi ewees, now reaching the end of their lives, many of whom have spoken about the violence which they experienced for the first time, and to pay public t ribute to their bravery and suffering and strength.