Elsie Refuge
The Elsie Refuge for women and children was a women's refuge set up in Glebe, Sydney in 1974. The project was the beginning of the NSW Women's Refuge Movement that responded to the needs of women and children escaping domestic violence by providing access to specialist accommodation and support services operating within a feminist framework. History In November 1973, Women's Liberation activists Anne Summers and Jennifer Dakers called a meeting at Women's House in Sydney to discuss the setting up of a "refuge" to provide free accommodation for women in various distress situations. In March 1974, Summers, Dakers and other women activists, including Bessie Guthrie, Robyn Kemmis, Kris Melmouth, Margaret Power, Carol Baker, Diana Beaton, Christina Gibbeson and Trudy Brickwood squatted an abandoned property at 73-75 Westmoreland Street, Glebe and set up the refuge in response to the lack of services and support available to women and children suffering from domestic violence. It was estimated that lesbians made up about 50% of the activist staff at the Elsie Refuge and associated Rape Crisis Centre set up nearby in Glebe by Kris Melmouth. Initially, there was no support from governments, with the staff at the centre providing security with nothing more