Making Social Change: Reflections on Individual and Institutional Advocacy with Women Arrested for Domestic Violence

• NCJ Number: 198543
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2003 Pages: 47-74
• Author(s): Martha McMahon; Ellen Pence
• Date Published: January 2003
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses strategies for advocates of women arrested for domestic violence.

Abstract

The anti-domestic violence movement’s engagement of the legal and criminal justice systems as ways of protecting women from violence is much more complicated than activists originally expected. The arrest and prosecution of battered women that use violence reflect an inadequate understanding of the gendered nature of domestic violence. The challenges for the anti-domestic violence movement are societal. The expectations around women’s behavior are contradictory. A woman’s use of violence and social responses to it must be understood in their cultural contexts. A woman’s use of violence must also be understood in the context of the whole relationship, rather than that of a specific incident. Women’s use of violence in intimate relationships does not typically carry the same gendered cultural meaning of powerfulness. Advocates are faced with a number of challenges to adapt to the unintended consequence of battered women being arrested for assaulting their abusers. In the legal system in the city of Duluth, Minnesota, the following strategies were used to focus on the application of the law rather than changing the law itself. The first strategy was to reduce the number of arrests by introducing the concept of determining whether either party was acting in self-defense and who was the “predominant aggressor.” The second strategy was to work with defense attorneys to more aggressively defend women charged with assaulting their abusers. The third strategy was to encourage prosecutors to defer cases in which women had used violence but were clearly not battering their partners. The fourth strategy was to challenge sentencing and rehabilitation practices. The final strategy was to confront the criticism that certain strategies are unfair or express a double standard by becoming adept at explaining the gendered nature of violence. 11 notes, 31 references