places -- including a battered women's safe haven.

Physical Abuse Centre office manager June Augustus responded to a recent article in The Royal Gazette where a woman on the verge of eviction was offered temporary housing at the shelter by a Social Services employee.

Mrs. Augustus said that although the centre -- in years past -- would occasionally take in families who deperately needed housing, it was no longer their policy to do so.

"There's not a week that passes without individuals seeking the centre for housing -- usually two or three people a week,'' Mrs. Augustus said.

"When someone is in desperate need of housing, they're not concerned if it's only for a short period of time.

"Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate them -- we cannot risk the safety of battered women and their children.

"Individuals who are not subjected to abuse generally tend to disregard policies and regulations which have been implemented as safety precautions,'' she said.

"For example, our `safe house' location is confidential, but they would want to tell their friends to come down and visit,'' she said.

And Mrs. Augustus explained that the centre's 10 p.m. curfew was a policy difficult to enforce among people who were not victims of domestic violence and did not fear for their safety.

"The scarcity of affordable housing in Bermuda is indeed a problematic social issue that has serious ramifications if unaddressed,'' she said.

"But hopefully Government's plan to build the 100 new houses should alleviate the crisis somewhat.

"The Physical Abuse Centre is deeply committed to assisting families needing housing...we are currently working with a group to alleviate some of the problems.''