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Rebecca Rodriguez
English 123
Professor Murdock
19 November 2017
Freeing the Brave
When it comes to Domestic Violence, some do not know how to respond. There are those

of us who turn a blind eye when a someone is need and wants to escape from their abuser. Those

victims at times do not even realize that there are resources and people who are willing to help.

And then we have the victims who become survivors. Some did take their courage and left their

abusers, while there are other survivors who took a situation into their own hands. They made a

flight or fight decision to stand up to their abusers. They took their abusers lives after years of

abuse and at times the judicial system will continue the abuse by sentencing them for over a

decade or even possibly a lifetime. Instead of having these victims be continuous punished while

in prison, there should be an alternative for them to heal.

Upon researching on this topic, I have come to the realization that Domestic Violence has

occurred for centuries. Little by little, there have been laws going in to affect to protect women.

It seems, however, it got lost in translation that no man should lay a hand on his wife. While

reading “Overview of Historical Laws that Supported Domestic Violence” from Womesafe.com

(2011), I noticed that it touched base on how the judicial system was always in favor of men

beating their wives and children. It did bother me to see how back in the Roman era, it was

standard for one to abuse his wife. The laws had later evolved. There were even laws in

Renaissance France that stated that a man may limit beatings so that they did not kill them. All

though that was the norm, today it is an entirely different story. For example, in 1990, a law was

passed in Vermont that specified “violation of a protection order became a crime with the
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passage of a law to that effect in 1990. Police officers are authorized to enforce orders, and the

law outlines penalties for violations.” However, yet law enforcement does not take it seriously

enough as it should.

Even with Karen Cox’s article titled “Most Women in Prison Are Victims of Domestic

Violence. That's Nothing New” (2017), she gives a short history in how mass incarceration over

the years. When it comes to Mass Incarceration, it seems that the focus has always been on the

men whereas, the number of women incarcerated has increased since the 1970’s. Cox also

describes how the abuse does not stop for the survivors who killed their abuser. Some still go

through abuse while in prison, whether it’s from fellow inmates or the prison guards. There are

reports of sexual assault as well as the continued abuse they have withstood in the past. She

mentions how one inmate described another inmate was sexually assaulted by a supervisor.

“’Coreanna’s got a baby and he’s got blue eyes,’” she says, “’must be the Captain’s, he ain’t

none of mine.’” Cox also presents the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act that will allow these

women to not only be treated fairly in prison but also for them to still be a caregiver for their

children. There has been no resolution to protect not only the women but their children as well.

Another article that gave a slight history and development of Domestic Violence was

Jacqueline Corcoran and Shannon Allen’s "The Effects of a Police/Victim Assistance Crisis

Team Approach to Domestic Violence" (2005). This journal caught my eye just with the title

alone. This journal gives off statistical proof at the increase of reports of domestic violence,

especially during the 1990’s. Both Allen and Corcoran show that between 1992 and 1993, there

was a substantial amount of “female homicide victims (28% or 1,414women) were killed by

their current or former partners in comparison to only 3% (637) of male homicide victims (U.S.

Department of Justice, 1995).” Since there was such a high percentage, there was a Crisis Team
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that was created for to help these victims of abuse. The Crisis Team offered both resources to

victims as well as training law enforcement on how to handle a domestic dispute. Thanks to

these studies in the crisis team, there has been a more understanding to “intervene at the point of

crisis with victims and perpetrators to break the pattern of violence.”

As much as we can look at the numbers and look back on the history, I’m more than

certain some of us are asking the question, “Well, why do these women continue to suffer at not

only at the hands of their abusers but also the judicial system?” It seems that some of us have a

lot to say but never want to know how to change it or even know the proper resources. There

have been people out there who have been more than willing to help. However, not many of

these victims know of that.

In Melissa Jeltsen’s “Should Domestic Violence Victims Go to Prison for Killing Their

Abusers?” (2016), she shows how unfair a victim, especially one who has endured it for a

majority of said victim’s life, truly is misjudged. Melissa Jeltsen introduces LadyKathryn

Williams-Julien and how she stabbed her husband, who was also her abuser, back in 1997.

Williams-Julien had confessed to the murder, but she also revealed how she was abused for

twenty years by him. Williams-Julien had also witnessed domestic violence during her

childhood. She did not have any prior criminal chargers but was sentenced to 15 years to life.

Jeltsen mentions how victims are even forced to choose to stay and suffer at the hands of their

abusers because they believe it will be best for them and their children. There is even mentions

of organizing support programs that will be more humane for these categories of women. There

is a report by the coaltion organizations from 2010 that states “It costs more than $55,000 a year

to incarcerate an adult in New York.” It also brings up that if there is “a person can receive
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services at an alternative-to-incarceration program for just $11,000 a year.” Although the system

has failed LadyKathryn, there seems to have been some progress.

Since there have been women who have suffered, there must be some type of law or acts

that we have missed, right? With Victoria Law’s article “Domestic violence victims in NY

prisons may get some relief” (2015), it sheds light on the type of law I have shown you about the

women who suffer that are in incarceration due to fighting back against their abusers, but this

article will help me show you that maybe the judicial system has not failed them. Victoria Law

shows that there is a law in New York (the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act) that

protects survivors if they kill those who abused them. Law also touches bases on the mass

incarceration issue and states that over 90% of women who are currently at Bedford Hills are

sexual assault and domestic violence victims. This type of law should be passed all over

America. Also, regarding the women who are facing incarcerated, that “According to the New

York state Department of Correctional and Community Services, 67 percent of women sent to

prison for killing someone close to them had been abused by that person.” Even though there

have been such a immense amount of these victims in prison, it seems that the system does not

provide a proper protocol for them. Law uses Valerie Seeley’s story about she was abused by her

boyfriend for a year. She was sentenced to nineteen years to life. Although she had a paper trai, it

was still not enough to safe her from time behind bars.

There have been other journals that have come to light in wanting to help these survivors

that stood up to their abusers. Erin Liotta’s “Double Victims: Ending the Incarceration of

California's Battered Women” (2011) explains just that. The journal here by Erin Liotta supports

my reference above. She brings up the words “double victim”. A “double victim” is someone

who has survived from her abuser but gets punished by the system for standing up to said abuser.
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Liotta also sheds light on how being in prison is just as bad as going through the abuse all over

again for a survivor. The trauma is so much for them that they think they will never get away

from it. There is even an indication that “shelters with few resources turned away women and

their children.” So not only does this article demonstration the lack of resources in women’s

shelters, it shows that women are basically ignored with their involvements of their abusers.

Overall, when it comes to Domestic Violence, not many know how to handle it. It’s a

stigma in today’s day and age. In the Roman times, it was normal. Now it is frowned upon, but

no one wants to really do anything about. Aside from those who literally are giving these victims

resources. But those who are in prison from standing up for themselves. There may be laws and

protocols going about to not only help, but save these women, nevertheless, they still feel alone.

Some feel helpless and some believe they will never get out of their current situation. Other than

that, these survivors should be aware that they are not alone, and someone is watching over

them.
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Works Cited

“Overview of Historical Laws that Supported Domestic Violence.” WomenSafe.

http://www.womensafe.net/home/index.php/domesticviolence/29-overview-of-historical-

laws-that-supported-domestic-violence

Cox, Karen L. "Most Women in Prison Are Victims of Domestic Violence. That's Nothing

New." Time.Com, 02 Oct. 2017, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

libproxy.calbaptist.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db

=aph&AN=125448928&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Corcoran, J. (1,2) and S. (2) Allen. "The Effects of a Police/Victim Assistance Crisis Team

Approach to Domestic Violence." Journal of Family Violence, vol. 20, no. 1, 01 Feb.

2005, p. 39-45. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10896-005-1508-0.

Jeltsen, Melissa. “Should Domestic Violence Victims Go To Prison For Killing Their Abusers?”.

Huffingtonpost.com, 26 May 2016, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/domestic-

violence-prison-legislation_us_573deaa3e4b0aee7b8e94236

Law, Victoria. “Domestic violence victims in NY prisons may get some relief.” Al Jazeera

America, 1 Jan. 2015, http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/1/domestic-

violencevictimsinnyprisonsmaygetsomerelief.html

Liotta, Erin. "Double Victims: Ending the Incarceration of California's Battered Women."

Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, vol. 26, no. 2, Oct. 2011, pp. 253-290.

EBSCOhost,

libproxy.calbaptist.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db

=aph&AN=69728570&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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