The women of Bermuda must keep the pressure on if they are to reduce domestic violence and secure equality in the workplace, a US Congresswoman told the Women's Resource Centre on Saturday night.

Mrs. Maxine Waters said women taking the initiative was the only way to get society to deal with the evils of domestic violence and job discrimination.

"Unless we deal with it it's going to engulf us,'' the Congresswoman told the fundraising dinner at the Sonesta Beach Hotel.

Mrs. Waters, whose political career has focused on social reform, said it was up to women to make the difference. Gains in recent years had only been made because women had fought and won "seats at the table.'' Power must be taken.

"It's not something someone gives you,'' she said. "You have to take it.

That was true in the past. And, despite our advances, it is still true.'' Mrs. Waters said progress was being made on significant fronts: awareness of the problems was growing within the legal profession, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and the public.

Nevertheless, women continued to be victims.

"All too often, women are still vulnerable to the ebb and flow of the economy and to violence within the family unit,'' she said.

"For many women and children in America, the home is not a place of comfort, safety and security. Rather, it is a den of despair and violence.'' Mr. Waters enumerated the breadth of the problems: Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury for women ages 15 to 44; There are at least four million reported incidents of domestic violence against women each year. Millions more go unreported: More than one in three Americans report witnessing an incident of domestic violence; Fourteen percent of women admit that their husband or boyfriend has violently abused them; Children raised in abusive households are four times more likely to become juvenile delinquents than those children raised in a violence-free environment; Women continue to earn only 68 cents for every dollar earned by men; and Despite laws against wage discrimination, women continue to be victimised through more subtle discrimination whereby employers give them lower-pay job titles even though their work may be comparable to other higher-paying jobs that are the preserve of men.

Mrs. Waters said domestic violence was now seen as a major public health problem in the US.

Until recently, domestic violence was a crime that "dared not speak its name''. Many women, dependent financially on their abusers, kept quiet about abuse fearful of the consequences for them and their children.

"Beatings were described to family doctors as the result of falls or other accidents,'' she said.

"Doctors and nurses often were unfamiliar with signs of chronic abuse, including alcoholism and drug addiction. Police and the judicial system turned a cold shoulder to complaints and often sided with the abuser.'' But Mrs. Waters said there was been change in the past decade.

US Government funding has provided shelters for battered women and children.

Legislation has been passed to bolster law enforcement capabilities against domestic violence.

And pending legislation would see centres established around the country where children could be safely handed off from one parent to another for court-ordered visitations.

"Fully three quarters of the four million women who report being beaten every year are beaten after they've left their abusive spouses,'' Mrs. Water said, likening the centre to `demilitarised zones' in wars between parents.'' Other pending legislation would set up a hot line that women and children could call. One privately funded hot line on domestic abuse received up to 10,000 calls a month before it ceased operating for lack of money.

The Congresswoman said she understood the importance of the Women's Resource Centre to women and society. She urged the audience to respect its work, to make financial contributions to it and join it as volunteers.

"Unless we deal with (domestic violence) it's going to engulf us,'' she said.

"We must start within the family. We must teach boys that they don't need to prove their manhood by violating a woman.'' Mrs. Waters said she remembered growing up in St. Louis and hearing and seeing men beating their wives.

"We heard women screaming in the night. My neighbours would say that's okay.

That's Mr. Jones beating his wife. Don't interfere. He has a right to beat his wife.'' She recalled seeing men beat their wives in public and being told it was none of her business.

"Well times have changed,'' Mrs. Waters said. "It's all our business. The Women's Resource Centre is not simply the business of women, it's the business of men. We want to save you.'' Mrs. Waters said the increasing number of women in politics was beginning to result in changes on the issues of economic equity or domestic violence.

"It's a good time to be a woman,'' she said. "I urge you to use your voice, your power to make a difference in your own life, the life of your family and in the life of your Island.''