Green 1 Bonnie Green Professor Ellen Harcourt WRT 1010, Section 09 November 6, 2013 Feeling SafeHow Far Are

You Willing to Go? What makes you feel safe? Maybe its a warm blanket, your loyal dog, or your significant other. Unfortunately, many women in America do not have that feeling of safety, for they are victims of domestic violence, tortured emotionally and physically. Most resort to a feeling of helplessness and passivity. This is known as Battered Womens Syndrome (BWS), as coined by psychologist Dr. Lenore Walker (Battered Womans Syndrome). More and more women, though, in these kinds of situations are taking extreme measures to escape their cruel reality gun possession and even murder. Women who have been domestically abused are becoming more violent, which is being reflected in homicides committed by women and the increasing numbers of women in prison. If everything that made you feel safe was taken away from you, what would you do? Keep a gun under your pillow, perhaps? The Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit in Washington, released a study showing domestic violence victims increasingly seek self-defense with a weapon because of their suspicions that police protection will fail or be inadequate (Abused Women Lean To Gun Possession). However, women are using self-defense as an excuse for violence, especially with their abusive partners, whereas men use violence as a control mechanism (Swan). More and more women are committing homicides as a result of their domestic abuse, with North Carolina being the state with the highest per capita rate of domestic homicides of women (Abused Women).

Green 2 Naturally, due to women committing more and more crimes as a result of domestic violence, there are more women in prison. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of women serving time in state or federal prisons jumped 121%, to 97,000 from 44,000 between 1990 and 2002 (Female Prison Population Increases). And, furthermore, such crowded conditions in certain female prisons, such as at the Tutwiler prison in Wetumpka, Alaska, where the maximum capacity is 417, yet over 1,000 inmates are being detained, could easily lead to violence and rioting among inmates (Female Prison). This is a vicious cycle, and it needs to stop. In order to combat the numbers of women in prison and women being abused in the first place, we as a society must take drastic measures to help, such as provide governmental help, educate our men and boys on healthy relationships from an early age, and foster healthy relationships at home. Now the question is, what can we do to make other women feel safe in their own homeswhere it all beginsso they do not feel compelled to carry a gun in their purse? One possible method would be to provide more help from the government. For example, in March of 2013, the White House revamped the Violence Against Women Act, adding measures such as a victims protection order will be recognized and enforced in all state, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions within the United States (White House Promotes Renewal of Violence Against Women Act). And it seems to be working. Ever since the initial passage of the VAWA, between 1993 to 2010, the rate of intimate partner violence declined 67% and between 1993 to 2007, the rate of intimate partner homicides of females decreased 35% (White House). Another important point is to prevent the fire before it sparksnip it in the bud, so to speak. From childhood, girls are taught that when a boy tugs on their hair or pushes them down, it means that he likes her. Those lessons we learn as children stick with us. Therefore, when a

Green 3 man comes home drunk or angry or both and pushes his wife around, thats okay, right? Obviously not. Instead of making women feel guilty for not being good enough that their husbands are beating them up like third-graders, we should be telling our boys to use their words to communicate their feelings, not their fists. Simple as that. Its not a hard concept, and if they are taught from a young age to respect their female counterparts, then those lessons will stick with them, and there will be less domestic abuse, and, therefore, less violence amongst women. But the most important thing that we can do for women whove already been domestically abused, those we know in our own lives, is to support them. Encourage them to leave their current toxic situation; maybe, if the husbands even willing, go to marriage counseling; if they are able, call a helpline; feel safe again. We should reach out to them before they reach a point of no return, so to speak, because one bullet can change everything.

Green 4

Works Cited "Battered Woman's Syndrome (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 12 June 1998. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. "Female Prison Population Increases (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 16 Jan. 2004. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. "White House Promotes Renewal of Violence Against Women Act (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Anonymous. "Abused Women Lean to Gun Possession." Crime Control Digest 38.40 (2004 Oct 08): 3. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Swan, Suzanne C., PhD., et al. "A Review of Research on Women's use of Violence with Male Intimate Partners." Violence and victims 23.3 (2008): 301-14. ProQuest. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.