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transition house
DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)
Spelling variants:transition home
n.
a home operated by a social services organization, often to accommodate and support women who are victims of abuse.
Type: 5. Frequency — Transition house may be a Canadian coinage, but its precise origins are unclear. It is possible that the term was initially a proper noun, as one such home was opened in Vancouver in 1973 under the name "Transition House" (see the 1977 quotation). The first widely known women's shelter, however, opened two years earlier in Chiswick, UK, under the name Chiswick Women's Aid. The first home in the US, Rainbow Retreat, was opened in 1973 (Tierney 1982: 207), and in Cambridge, MA, a shelter called "Transition House" was opened in 1975 according to the home's website (see Massachusetts Transition House reference).
Given the data available, the first usage of transition house may have been in reference to the Vancouver shelter referred to above. Note that in the 1977 quotation the term is explained, suggesting that its meaning was not transparent at the time. Transition house is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1). Charts 1 and 2 show a clear North American provenance of a term that is North American in principle, possibly Canadian by Origin (Type 1), but certainly Canadian by Frequency (Type 5).
See also COD-2, s.v. "transition house", which is marked "Cdn".
Given the data available, the first usage of transition house may have been in reference to the Vancouver shelter referred to above. Note that in the 1977 quotation the term is explained, suggesting that its meaning was not transparent at the time. Transition house is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1). Charts 1 and 2 show a clear North American provenance of a term that is North American in principle, possibly Canadian by Origin (Type 1), but certainly Canadian by Frequency (Type 5).
See also COD-2, s.v. "transition house", which is marked "Cdn".
See: interval house
Quotations
1975
Inquiries have come from Edmonton and from places in Quebec to Anne Cools, who directs Women In Transition. She has also had a letter from the Department of Social Services in Halifax "on behalf of a group of Halifax citizens who are concerned that a transition house for women is greatly needed."
1977
Riddington, who works at Transition House, a refuge for battered women, told 50 women in Mildred Brock lounge that wife beating is an amplification of the traditional male-female relationship where men are dominant and women passive. [...] Transition House opened in Vancouver in 1973.
1984
A transition home for battered women in the Hamilton-Wentworth Region, approved in principle by Regional Council this week, should be in operation by early 1985.
1999
Two other transition homes in the Yukon, the Dawson Shelter Transition House and the Health and Hope for Families in Watson Lake, have seen a steady number of women seeking shelter.
2008
While the Wall government already has increased support for transition houses and food banks, its justification for pulling Station 20 West funding does demonstrate a significant lack of understanding of the needs of the urban poor.
2016
This brief history does not document the labor, perseverance, commitment and ingenuity that the establishment of a new shelter demanded. Nor does it fully recognize that transition houses are primarily geared to stopping spousal abuse after it has happened. Community groups and national organizations need to work towards a solution before it happens by changing the social conditions that make women vulnerable to victimization.
References
- COD-2
- Tierney (1982)
- Massachusetts Transition House • "About Us"
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 12 Oct. 2012
