A HUMANE WORK

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21412, 2 March 1935, Page 4

A HUMANE WORK

<£ PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHAT TUB SOCIETY LS DOING When the Society for the Protection of Women and Children makes its street appeal on Wednesday, March 13. the public will have the opportunity of contributing to the support of work which every citizen must feel to be a grave responsibility of the community. It is, of course, the practice of the society, and a desirable one, to carry out its work quietly and without attracting attention. This may make people forget the extent to which the work is necessary and the extent to which it is being done. Yet during the year visits paid by Miss E. Cardale, the secretary-inspector of the Canterbury branch, average about 30 to 40 a week, while large numbers of callers at the office are interviewed and given friendly and sympathetic advice. A great deal of work is also involved where cases have to be taken to court.

There can be no question of the necessity for this work. In many cases the visits and tactful assistance of the inspector have brought husbands and wives together and forestalled separation cases and the consequent detriment to the welfare of the families concerned. The society also keeps a watchful eye on the fortunes of young girls who, on getting work, leave home and take rooms of their own. Families are visited to. see that homes arc kept clean and children sent to school, and a great deal of work is done in drawing and administering pensions, maintenance money, and other forms of payment for those who are unable oxunwilling to take the responsibility themselves. Some of the Cases As an example of what the society had to deal with. Miss Cardale mentioned several cases where drunken husbands turned their wives out of home on Saturday nights. Recently she had been obliged, late one night. to obtain accommodation for a woman with two children who had been thrashed and turned out of home by her husband. On another occasion n woman arrived at Miss Cardale's house after having been turned out from home with her young baby. One woman had left home with one of her children to go and live with a married man. She left four other children at home, and the man turned out his own wife and children to make room for her. A boy living with his step-mother was found to be sleeping in a disgraceful shed, and to spend his time washing bottles when not at school.

There were cases where men were in charge of large families owing to the death or illness of the mother, and were drinking and neglecting their children shamefully. Two giris had run away from home for this reason. In many cases the intervention of the society and the threatened loss of their children had induced the men to give up drinking. This had been done by the father of a little girl of 12 years, who had often been left alone all night. A 7nost distressing case was that of a baby six months old, which was found in an unhealthy room full of flies and with no perambulator. The father and mother were a boy and girl. There were cases also of women deserting young children. Drinking among young girls was a serious problem, said Miss Cardale. Two bad cases had occurred recently, the girls being 17 years old. Old ladies were often to be found in deplorable conditions, and had to be removed, often only after some persuasion, to suitable homes. Unemployment Problems Miss Cardale said that during the last year there had been a large number of mental cases, possibly because of the distress caused by unemployment. Furthermore, the unemployment situation made it more desirable that separations should be avoided, since men on relief work were not paid enough to keep two homes going. The society always tried to avoid court action, and often, even when action had been taken, an adjournment was secured, and the matter satisfactorily settled in the meantime. The problem of illegitimate children was sometimes a very serious one. The fathers could not be found or were unable to pay maintenance, and the women had to support the children. A married man on relief work did not get extra work to support an illegitimate child, though a single man did. Such are some of the cases and problems that confront the society's workers and are treated for the most part with encouraging success. Mis* Cardale said that the name of the society ought to include men as well as women and children, for men often came for advice, sometimes about the neglect of their children by their wives. Miss Cardale spends the morning in visiting, beginning at half-past eight and often having to carry on at night after office hours. "It is a busy life," she said, "but it is work that has to be done, and it gives one a thorough knowledge of human nature." She added a word of praise for the work of the honorary medical officers and solicitors, and the sympathetic consideration shown by magistrates and other officials. Collectors are urgently wanted for the street appeal, and are asked to communicate with the society's office, 94 Gloucester street, telephone 31-496.