NCJ Number
211964
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 11 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2005 Pages: 1367-1395
Date Published
November 2005
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This article describes the work of the Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project documenting human rights violations against battered women and their children in Massachusetts.
Abstract
In 1999, the Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project (BMTP) began a 3-year study of human rights violations against battered women and their children in Massachusetts’ family court system, as well as problems related to gender bias and due process. This article presents the project’s participatory human rights methodology as an alternative model for research and activism on violence against women in the United States, summarizes findings and human rights analysis of how the Massachusetts family courts are handling custody and visitation in specific cases involving partner and child abuse, and discusses United States obligations under international human rights law and the value of a human rights approach to violence against women and children in the United States. The Project uses the international human rights framework in three ways: (1) as a research construct to advance knowledge about violence against women and children nationally; (2) as a tool for identifying the social, political, and legal changes needed to eradicate these problems; and (3) as the driving visions and inspiration for creating the grassroots momentum needed to put pressure on the government to bring about these changes.