As the Physical Abuse Centre marks its 15th anniversary, appeals for help are flooding in as never before.

For the first six months of this year, a total of 175 calls were received, which indicates a sharp increase over the figure of 320 calls for the whole of last year.

The Centre will hold a Presentation Awards Night at St. Paul's Centennial Hall on Monday, November 7. The guest speaker will be Rev. Cindy Trimm, evangelist and motivational speaker, who is returning home for the occasion from the US where she runs her own counselling service.

The increase in violence in Bermuda should be cause for serious concern, say Mrs. June Augustus, one of the Centre's directors.

"Five murders so far this year! It's just too much, and reflects the overall increase in violence here.'' One of the Centre's next aims is to try and obtain legislation under which any person who is found to have physically attacked someone, will be arrested on the spot, regardless of whether or not the victim presses charges.

"We would like to see the `Quincy Model', which is now being used in some parts of the US, to be adopted here. One of the problems,'' she explains, "is that although we work closely with the Police, who are always very helpful, their hands are tied, to a large extent. If a woman decides not to press charges, there is not much the Police can do.'' Mrs. Augustus, who joined the Board in 1985, with the specific responsibility of raising funds to keep the Physical Abuse Centre open, says she is in favour of re-introducing the birch as a deterrent to violence.

"I have just returned from Singapore, where you can be arrested for dropping a piece of paper, or not flushing a public toilet! The main thing, though, is that it is a very safe place, you can walk around in safety. We have to do something here to stop the violence.'' Mrs. Augustus feels the Centre has made dramatic progress since its formation 15 years ago.

"This is partly due to increased awareness that women don't have to put up with constant abuse. There is help available. We provide practical help and counselling by people who are skilled in the field. In the past three weeks, we have had three men come for help -- and only one for the whole of last year. We are lucky to have a retired probation officer who is helping us in this area. But all of this takes money and we would urge the community to help us in our fight against violence and abuse.'' The Centre is also able to provide free legal assistance to clients in the shelter who wish to take a case to court and/or obtain restraining orders.

Chairperson, director, and counsellor at the Centre Mrs. Arleen Swan believes that Bermuda finally woke up to the fact that abuse was a serious problem "when the killings began. When Nancy Majors and Mrs. Jackson and her children were killed, people began to see the light.'' Admitting that she is currently monitoring the same types of cases, where women are being `stalked' by former partners, Mrs. Swan says that the main problem is that women persist in going back to bad relationships.

"Some of these women have broken noses, or broken arms, and still go back! I think many Bermudian women, however, manage to get out when the situation appears to become life-threatening.'' Noting that physical abuse affects rich and poor, educated and uneducated, and all races, Mrs. Swan says that many of their clients are foreigners.

"It's far more difficult to get out if you have nowhere to run to! We have a young English girl now, who is pregnant, and the guy is `murderising' her. We have worked with the clinic to try and help her. Perhaps when the baby comes, things will snap, and she will realise that she has to get right out of this situation.'' One of the characteristics of a physical abuse situation, explains Mrs. Swan, is that even after ending up with injuries that land them in the hospital, victims still cherish the hope that the perpetrator will change his ways.

"They will say, `if only he'd stop. He's really a nice person'. They just don't realise that it's not going to stop. Very often, when we try to counsel the man, he will try and twist the story around and make the victim out to be a liar. And often,'' she adds, "women are lulled into a sense of false security when the guy turns all sweet again.'' The core problem of physical abuse, explains Mrs. Swan, is that it is nearly always cyclical and generational. A startling illustration of this arose just this week when it was found that a young woman who was seeking help was quite unaware that her own mother was already in the Centre.

"Abuse is a learned behaviour. A child sees his father abuse his mother and, all to often, he will act out the same behaviour when he is an adult.'' Mrs. Swan also believes that abuse comes under the heading of addiction, where the same issues of denial that occur with drugs and alcoholism, come into play.

"There is a lot of enabling involved. Family members will either cover up that someone in their family is an abuser -- or they will deny that it ever happens, or that the victim `deserved' it, or `she didn't treat him right!' This is why it is so vital that we treat the whole family. Just as with substance abuse, physical abuse makes the entire family sick.'' Most importantly, as with substance abuse, the victim can obtain help, but only if she really wants it: "You can't force people to see the truth of a situation. You can point it out, but they have to see for themselves and to see the consequences of their behaviour.'' Although most of the women and children who seek shelter at the Physical Abuse Centre tend to come from low-income backgrounds, this is by no means always the case.

"Some men have an economic hold over a woman. The young English girl is not legally married, but was set up in a nice home -- but she didn't own it, or anything in it. Now he's removed the fridge and furniture to `punish' her.'' Mrs. Swan spent 17 years as a social worker in Canada before Rev. Trimm and then Mrs. Augustus persuaded her to consider bringing her expertise back to Bermuda.

The Physical Abuse Centre had its beginnings in 1979 when the Business and Professional Women's Association of Bermuda held a seminar on rape. When the Centre was formed as a result, it took only two meetings for the focus of the founding group to be extended to include victims of all kinds of physical abuse.

Many of Bermuda's leading women -- and men -- have worked tirelessly to provide a haven of hope and help for the abused. In the early days, Drs. Emily Liddell, Mary Busby and Elizabeth Galloway all donated their time in training volunteer counsellors.

One of the greatest shocks, even back in 1979, was that victims were flocking forward for help even before the group had got round to publicising their efforts.

With the first of several `safe' houses soon set up to provide shelter for women and their children, they also installed a `Hot Line'. Financial help came in the form of $5,000 from the Junior Service League and $24,000 from Mr.

Robert Stigwood to help with rental expenses. Faced with bills amounting to $8,000, the Centre faced closure. It was then that Mrs. Augustus came on board and was able to persuade many organisations and businesses to keep the Centre open.

This year, ten years after their original application, the Physical Abuse Centre has finally received a grant from Government. This is allocated for a counsellor, a live-in matron, and rent for the Shelter and office.

"One of our greatest jobs, of course, is educating the public, and that takes money,'' says Mrs. Augustus, "so the Presentation Awards Night is a combination `thank you' to some of those who have helped us so much over the years, and it will also be a fund raiser. So we want to see that hall full!'' Mrs. Augustus, who is heading the anniversary committee, promises a night of "entertainment and inspiration''.

Noting that this year is `the year of the family', she says, "We have Darlene Symonds and Lolly Darrell who are singers. Then, Shireka Minors, who is only 14, will also sing, and Wendell `Shine' Hayward will represent the men!'' Keynote speaker, Rev. Cindy Trimm is a former politician and senator who served as the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Social Services, Housing and Education.

With a bachelor of arts degree in Theology and Counselling, and a Masters in Education, Rev. Trimm has been in much demand as preacher, teacher and motivational speaker, travelling all over the US and Caribbean.

The Physical Abuse Centre's Presentation Awards Night will take place at St.

Paul's Centennial Hall on Court Street in Hamilton, on Monday, November 7.

Tickets, which include refreshments, are $25 and are available from the Physical Abuse Centre's office, or by telephoning 292-4366 (days) or 238-2012 (evenings).

Rev. Cindy Trimm