Erin Pizzey

Overview

Early activism In 1959, Pizzey attended her first meeting at the UK's Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) at the Chiswick house of a local organiser. At this organiser's suggestion, Pizzey agreed to convene a "consciousness-raising group" at her home in Goldhawk Road. Pizzey's work was widely praised at the time. In 1975, MP Jack Ashley stated in the House of Commons that "The work of Mrs. Pizzey was pioneering work of the first order. It was she who first identified the problem, who first recognised the seriousness of the situation and who first did something practical by establishing the Chiswick aid centre. As a result of that magnificent pioneering work, the whole nation has now come to appreciate the significance of the problem". While being prosecuted by local authorities and appealing matters to the House of Lords, she was recognised for her work. Although Refuge traces its existence back to Chiswick Women's Aid, Pizzey's name could not be found anywhere on the Refuge website for many decades.

Reciprocity of domestic violence Soon after establishing her first refuge, Pizzey asserted that much of the domestic violence was reciprocal. (co-researched with John Gayford of Warlingham Hospital), Pizzey distinguished between "genuine battered women"

In her book Prone to Violence, Pizzey expressed concern that so little attention was paid to the causes of interpersonal and family violence, stating, "to my amazement, nobody seemed to genuinely want to find out why violent people treat each other the way they do". She also expressed concern for the view expressed by government officials that solutions to the issue of domestic abuse and violence could be found in socialist or communist countries. Pizzey pointed out that marital violence was a great problem in Russia, and China addressed the issue by proclaiming wife-beating a crime punishable by a death sentence. and Pizzey reported that she herself and co-author Jeff Shapiro needed police protection during the promotional events for the book. and defamation campaigns, and dealing with overwork, near collapse, cardiac disease and mental strain.

Having moved to Santa Fe to write, Pizzey promptly became involved in running a refuge in New Mexico, as well as dealing with sexual abusers and paedophiles. While she was living in Santa Fe, one of her dogs was shot and two others were stolen, which she claimed was a result of racist neighbours. where she wrote with her second husband, Jeff Shapiro. Subsequently, she moved to Siena, Italy, where her writing and advocacy work continued. She returned to London in the spring of 1997, homeless due to debt and in increasingly poor health. In March 2007, as a guest, she attended the ceremony of opening the first Arab refuge for victims of domestic violence in Bahrain.

In 2013, Pizzey joined the editorial and advisory board of the men's rights organisation A Voice for Men, serving as an Editor and DV Policy Advisor and from January to August wrote thirteen articles for the group's web site. She announced her first interview a week prior on /r/MensRights.

In November 2014, Pizzey became owner/manager of the AVFM WhiteRibbon.org website (since renamed Honest-Ribbon.org), which has been criticised by the original White Ribbon Campaign as "a copycat campaign articulating ... archaic views and denials about the realities of gender-based violence".

Pizzey was interviewed for and appeared in the 2016 documentary film The Red Pill by Cassie Jaye about the men's rights movement. Pizzey is a patron of registered charity Compassion In Care which works to "break the chain of elderly abuse" and she wrote an introduction for the book Beyond The Facade by founder Eileen Chubb. In 2022, Pizzey was listed as Honorary Lifetime President Emeritus to CPU: Children Parents United Charity founded by Greg Ellis. The charity appears to be shut down as of April 2023. Pizzey has also been a patron of the shared parenting charity Both Parents Matter in the last few years.

Libel case In 2009, Pizzey was successful in a libel case against Macmillan Publishers over content in Andrew Marr's book A History of Modern Britain. The publication had falsely claimed she had once been part of a militant group, The Angry Brigade, that staged bomb attacks in the 1970s. The publisher also recalled and destroyed the offending version of the book and republished it with the error removed. The link to the Angry Brigade was made in 2001, in an interview with The Guardian, in which the article states that she was "thrown out" of the feminist movement after threatening to inform police about a planned bombing by the Angry Brigade of the clothes shop Biba. "I said that if you go on with this – they were discussing bombing Biba [the legendary department store in Kensington – I'm going to call the police in, because I really don't believe in this".

Personal life Pizzey married Jack Pizzey in 1959. Jack Pizzey was a naval lieutenant whom she first met in Hong Kong. They had two children, including Amos. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2000.

Pizzey was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to the victims of domestic abuse.

Books Non-fiction Details. Details. Details. Details. Details. Details. Details. Details.

Fiction The Watershed In the Shadow of the Castle First Lady The Consul General's Daughter The Snow Leopard of Shanghai Other Lovers Swimming with Dolphins For the Love of a Stranger Kisses The Wicked World of Women

Awards International Order of Volunteers For Peace, Diploma of Honour (Italy) 1981. Nancy Astor Award for Journalism 1983.