Opinion Abused women are resorting to violence to survive. They aren’t criminals.
Opinion | Self-defense laws ought to protect victims of domestic violence The Washington Post
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Article Title
The Urgent Need for Reform: Recognizing Self-Defense for Abused Women
Introduction
Elizabeth Flock is a journalist and the author of two books, most recently “The Furies: Women, Vengeance, and Justice.”
Background
By the time Deven Grey shot her boyfriend in 2017, he had been isolating and abusing her for years. The night she killed him at their home in rural Alabama, he had fired a gun at her, pistol-whipped her and strangled her with a hose. In court, she filed a “stand your ground” self-defense claim — which she was denied because she had shot her abuser five minutes after he had lain on the couch. “I just didn’t want it to be me,” she said.
The Legal System’s Failure
For years, I have interviewed women around the world who resorted to violence to survive. I have studied hundreds of cases of abused women who were prosecuted for defending themselves and interviewed dozens more in prison. The more I’ve learned about these women, many of whom picked up a gun or knife after decades of abuse, the better I’ve come to understand that sometimes, the vulnerable must turn to violence to live — and that the American legal system is not built to conform to this reality.
Gender and Racial Biases
One U.S. study found women are twice as likely as men to be convicted of a crime after claiming self-defense; the odds are even worse for a woman of color. Women are asked why they did not leave an abuser, why they were an imperfect victim or why they did not seek help from the police or courts — institutions that failed to protect them in the first place.
The Flaws in Self-Defense Laws
These cases should be treated as self-defense. But our self-defense laws — written originally by and for White men defending their property, not for women who might be experiencing domestic or sexual abuse — require a threat to be imminent. They do not take into account that an abused woman often cannot defend herself at the precise moment of an attack. And they do not take into account that she might have been under assault for years.
The Need for Reform
Stand-your-ground laws are even more flawed; their application has been found to be colored by racial and gendered biases in ways that fail to protect abused women. As Caroline Light, a Harvard University lecturer and author of the book “Stand Your Ground: A History of America’s Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense,” put it, these laws, despite their seemingly neutral language, were “crafted in a way that would slam the door on abuse survivors while enabling more homicidal violence, especially armed violence, by the usual suspects.”
The Reality of Abused Women
Many people call for peaceful ways out of abuse. The problem is, these often don’t work. Some women never report the violence out of fear of retaliation from their abuser. Others report it but no action is taken — or they report it, or attempt to leave their abusers, and are killed before the authorities respond. When a woman does fight back, she is often treated not as a longtime victim, but as a criminal.
Addressing the Issue
This conundrum of “criminalized survival,” as it is known, is not new. Advocates have been raising the alarm for decades. Rachel White-Domain, who heads the Women & Survivors Project at the Illinois Prison Project, said that some of her clients have been “in constant positions of terror and violence,” and that after enduring so much, it’s no wonder some see no other way out. Because women and men are often different sizes and strengths, women are more likely to defend themselves with guns or knives, while men more often use hands and fists. But prosecutors and judges, “people on the other side of the looking glass, just don’t live those kinds of lives” of continuous violence, and so fail to put a woman’s response in its proper context.
The Need for Legal Reform
Though no national data exist, White-Domain estimates that since the creation of U.S. prisons, tens of thousands of women have been criminalized for defending themselves. The legal system has begun to evolve to address female defendants with abuse histories, but not fast enough.
Expanding Self-Defense Laws
Since the 1970s, some attorneys have used a theory and defense called “battered-woman syndrome,” which helps courts give proper consideration to an abused woman’s experiences. Today, more defense attorneys are arguing that their abused clients’ actions constitute self-defense. But our self-defense laws must expand to acknowledge the dynamics of intimate-partner violence, especially around timing and what constitutes reasonable fear. When the law does not acknowledge this, it is much more difficult for attorneys to invoke self-defense laws for their abused clients. The fact that they can’t is a double standard that hurts survivors.
Legislative Efforts
Some state laws have sought to redress the problem during or after sentencing. Since 2012 in California, “sin by silence” laws, building on earlier legislation, have allowed courts to consider new evidence for women whose abuse might not have been adequately presented at trial. In 2016 in Illinois, an amended law added abuse as a mitigating factor at sentencing. And in New York, the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act of 2019 has allowed for reduced sentences for those who experienced domestic violence.
Conclusion
More states need to pass similar legislation. Even better, law enforcement and prosecutors must be better informed so that fewer women with abuse histories are arrested or tried in the first place.
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis
1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
- SDG 5: Gender Equality
- SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
The article discusses the issue of women who resort to violence to survive in abusive situations. This highlights the need for gender equality and the importance of ensuring that women have equal rights and protection under the law (SDG 5). It also raises concerns about the justice system and its failure to adequately address the needs of abused women, emphasizing the need for strong institutions and access to justice (SDG 16).
2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
- Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres
- Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
The article highlights the issue of violence against women in abusive relationships, indicating the need to eliminate all forms of violence against women (Target 5.2). It also emphasizes the importance of promoting the rule of law and ensuring equal access to justice for all, particularly for women who have experienced abuse (Target 16.3).
3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
- Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls subjected to physical, sexual, or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months
- Indicator 16.3.1: Proportion of victims of violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized mechanisms
The article mentions the prevalence of violence against women in abusive relationships, which can be measured using Indicator 5.2.1. This indicator looks at the proportion of women who have experienced violence from an intimate partner in the previous 12 months. Additionally, the article discusses the challenges faced by abused women in seeking help from authorities, indicating the importance of measuring the proportion of victims who report their victimization to competent authorities or other recognized mechanisms (Indicator 16.3.1).
4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 5: Gender Equality | Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres | Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls subjected to physical, sexual, or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months |
| SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions | Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all | Indicator 16.3.1: Proportion of victims of violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized mechanisms |
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Source: washingtonpost.com
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