Few persons know how women’s abuse shelters first got started. Four years ago lesbian activist Bonnie Tinker made this stunning admission in The Oregonian:

“In fact, it was a small group of lesbians from Portland who were at the forefront of a national movement to provide safe havens for women…We knew that foundations were not going to fund a house for a bunch of homeless bar dykes. We realized the language that would be understood was the language of battered women.”

Which raises a disturbing question: Exactly what goes on at abuse shelters? As my investigation has uncovered, at many shelters it’s happy hunting grounds for lesbians seeking to prey on vulnerable women.

Maria, a 35-year-old grocery clerk, went to Bethany House in Falls Church, Va. for legal advice. The shelter referred her to attorney Robert Machen for pro bono assistance. According to the report, “One day he turned up at her doorstep and demanded sex or get paid for legal service.” They soon began to kiss and cuddle. (I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.)

But it wasn’t just the lawyer who was taking advantage of the abused women. Two house managers, Ms. Veronica and Ms. Liang, had complaints leveled against them of inappropriate sexual advances to shelter residents. The two were forced to resign.

At another shelter, a former employee told me about a lesbian resident who was escorting an under-age girl into her room on a regular basis. When the shelter manager was advised of the suspicious activity, she accused the employee of being “prejudiced.”

On another occasion, an irked resident complained to the same manager about inappropriate sexual activities taking place in front her children. The manager told the woman to lighten up and find someone who would make her “feel better.”

In Charleston, W.Va., Elizabeth Crawford was caught in a physically abusive relationship. Desperate for help, she started to attend a weekly support group run by the local YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program.

On several occasions Crawford found herself talking to the director of the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. At first her advances consisted of effusive praise. Lingering hugs soon followed. Then one day Crawford noticed the Coalition director was caressing her back.

Warned to “be careful” with the woman, Crawford explained she had no interest in her advances. In short order, she found herself shunned. Years later when Crawford established her own abuse counseling program, she continued to be blackballed.

In Houston, the Bay Area Turning Point sponsors holiday parties for shelter residents to help them find a new boyfriend. Local doctors and attorneys are invited to attend. One woman got pregnant while staying at the shelter, reportedly following at one such party.

Bobbi Bacha of Blue Moon Investigations questions whether such events are appropriate for women recovering from an abusive relationship, and worries the women are being “groomed” for prostitution.

One woman who spent time at two shelters reveals baldly, “many workers in shelters are lesbians.” One pick-up tactic is for a shelter worker to gently rub a resident’s palm, as if to assuage her pain. “If you become her girlfriend, you will be treated very good. I was 100% sure,” the woman sheepishly explains: www.vimeo.com/790290 .

For the record, many women who work in abuse shelters believe same-sex marriages should be legalized, so who can fault these ladies for wanting to practice what they preach?

Then there’s the digital rape of a four-year-old girl at Another Way in Lake City, Fla. by an older girl. According to a former shelter employee, upon discovering the two girls, the “five year old stated that the nine year old had put her finger(s) inside of her private (vagina) and ‘messed’ with her.”

I first reported this incident in my July 22 column, noting that the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence had not given any word whether it was intending to investigate.

Six weeks later, still nothing from the Florida Coalition. This is unconscionable.

Maybe if more persons call the FCADV director, Tiffany Carr at 1-850-425-2749 and demand action, we’ll begin to see a stop in the sexual exploitation of women and girls at abuse shelters.