The Women's Shelters

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The first women’s shelters opened in 1978: Alla Kvinnors Hus in Stockholm and Kvinnohuset in Gothenburg. They were in part a reaction to society’s inability to protect women who were the victims of violence and abuse by men close to them.

The thought behind them was also that women seeking support would meet female volunteers from the shelters and be able to discuss questions with them on more equal terms than they could with representatives of the authorities.

The number of women’s shelters rose rapidly throughout the 1980s, and in 1984 the National Organisation for Women’s Shelters and Young Women’s Shelters in Sweden, Roks, was formed. In October 1996, sixteen women’s shelters decided to leave Roks and form the Swedish Association of Women’s Shelters, SKR.

In 2009 SKR changed its name to the Swedish Association of Women’s Shelters and Young Women’s Empowerment Centres, but is still known as SKR. 

Today, around 140 local women’s shelters carry out important and valuable work supporting and helping women who are subjected to violence, and also their children. Just over 60 of these organisations are members of SKR. 

The local women’s shelters do not all work in the same way. Some employ staff to run an office and have a round-the-clock helpline, while others have fixed telephone times and are staffed entirely by female volunteers. Most shelters can offer counselling, advice, safe accommodation and support in contacts with the police, social services, the family courts and the legal system.

The support does not cost anything. You do not have to give your name and you do not have to be registered with a government agency, although many of the women living in sheltered accommodation have been referred after an initial contact with the social services.

Much of the work of the women’s shelters relies on the voluntary unpaid work of individual members. The women who work there have a lot of knowledge about men’s violence against women and have long experience of helping women in crisis.

The evaluations which have been carried out into the activities of the women’s shelters show that the help offered is greatly appreciated by the women who seek it. They also show that more people need to take responsibility and work together to ensure that women who are subjected to violence receive the support and protection they need, not just short-term but also long-term.