The women’s refuge as ‘homeplace’: Black and Asian women’s refuges in Britain as spaces of community and resistance (1980–2000)

James Robertson, C. (2023) The women’s refuge as ‘homeplace’: Black and Asian women’s refuges in Britain as spaces of community and resistance (1980–2000). Women's History Review, (doi: 10.1080/09612025.2023.2245661) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Black Feminist theorist bell hooks has written of the way in which Black women construct ‘homeplaces’ as ‘spaces of care and nurturance in the face of the brutal harsh reality of racist oppression.’ But what happens when the home is not a place of safety for Black women? Beginning in the late 1970s, groups of Black women in Britain began to establish women’s refuges designed to meet the needs of Black and Asian women who were experiencing domestic abuse. In so doing, they were providing an alternative homeplace where women could be safe, not only from abusive partners, but also from racism they sometimes experienced in mainstream women’s refuges. This paper will argue that specialist refuges were important spaces where Black women could heal from abuse, foster community, and find their political voices.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [AH/R012717/1].
• Keywords: domestic abuse, women’s refuges, intersectionality, Women’s Aid, anti-racism, Black Feminism, Women’s Liberation Movement, political Blackness.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: James Robertson, Charlotte
• Authors: James Robertson, C.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Journal Name: Women's History Review
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0961-2025
• ISSN (Online): 1747-583X
• Published Online: 22 August 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Women's History Review 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
302136		AHRC DTP 2	Monica Callaghan	Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)	AH/R012717/1	Arts - Scottish Graduate School Arts & Humanities