In 1971, Erin Pizzey opened the first abuse refuge in the world for women and children.

Back then there was no funding, awareness, or conversation for such a thing, nothing said or done about the hidden epidemic hiding behind closed doors across the nation.

And so, with no money, Erin squatted in buildings; taking over abandoned houses, with local men volunteering to fix and rebuild the spaces, filling them with women and children fleeing abuse.

Soon she took over many more houses across the country, entire streets, and even abandoned hotels, becoming the UKs largest squatting organization, each house a safe haven for women and children.

It wasn’t long before Erin saw the full ugly face of domestic violence; that many of the women coming to her, were both simultaneous victims and perpetrators of violence, leaving many male victims in urgent need of help too.

‘The cycle of violence’ she’d call it, learnt in childhood, and continuing into adulthood, that was cyclical and generational, and needed to be broken.

“The Big Lie”, Erin infamously dubbed the concept of ‘gendered violence’, a position that would ultimately lead to her downfall.

Yes.

Erin’s brave and unpopular work, talking of ‘interactive violence’ between women and men, and raising the flag for male victims, won her many enemies, attracting continual harassment, picketing, and threats of violence; leaving Erin with a police escort, and a bomb squad going through her mail.

Soon she had to leave her refuges, those who needed her, as well as the rapidly growing domestic violence movement that she started.

Her original refuge became ‘Refuge UK’, the largest domestic violence charity in the world, and Erin was consigned to the shadows, now living in a single bed flat, on income support, with vanishingly few even knowing who she is.

So here is a short segment of my unreleased interview of Erin, the unseen tapes, to shine just a small light onto her heroism and hard work, that so few are even aware of…

More to come.

2025-06-20