ONE OF THE most important achievements of the women's movement in the 1970s was establishing a network of support services for abuse victims. Before shelters and counseling programs were created, battered women had nowhere to turn. Rape victims seldom reported their attacks, having no one to guide them through a legal system that favored their attackers. And treatment for violent men was almost unheard-of, so they continued their patterns of abuse.

For women in danger, the first step is finding a safe place to stay. The homes of friends or relatives are usually not the answer, since their abusers can easily track them there. For many women shelters are the best place to start to pick up the pieces of a shattered life. As one journalist notes, "Shelters were never meant to become permanent establishments, but because community institutions do not act effectively to...