In the Lair of the Monster

An Overview of
Domestic Violence

By: Denise Lindross

Laurie Kellogg was in a prison long before she was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.  Sexually abused as a child, Laurie was destined to be locked away in the confines of domestic violence, held prisoner by the isolation and despair it leaves in its wake with a merciless vengeance.

Consider the statistics. The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women estimates that over 4 million women are victims of severe assaults by boyfriends and husbands each year. That would make one in four women likely to be abused by a partner in her lifetime. Domestic violence knows no boundaries. It is not limited to a specific race, class or socio-economic level.

On the surface it would appear that middle and upper class women do not get battered as often as lower income women, however the statistics are deceiving. Women with money have more access to resources, while poorer women are left to depend on the community agencies that provide much of the national statistical data. More than 50% of women who said they had been abused reported family incomes above $35,000. In addition, education or lack of education is not an indicator of susceptibility either. Almost 20% of battered women have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Domestic abuse is an insidious predator, misunderstood and largely swept under the carpet. Victims, not perpetrators, are held accountable by society and more vulnerable once they muster the courage to leave their abusers than when they stay and endure the beatings, insults and degradation. Why then, are the myths that women who are battered or abused sexually somehow responsible for their plight, they enjoy being hit or they would leave? There is no simple answer.

Often, the abuser is not violent outside of the home. Batterers choose to be violent toward their partners in ways they would never consider treating other people. It is not a matter of loss of control; rather it is using their control. Their actions are very deliberate and calculated. Too many people view domestic violence as a private matter between a couple, rather than as a violent criminal offense that needs to be stopped even if the victim is immobilized by fear and emotionally unable to acknowledge that she is accepting the unacceptable.

Victims are so terrorized that they fear for their lives if they call the police or involve well meaning friends and relatives to help them. Leaving generally places them at further risk. 73% of the battered women seeking emergency medical services have already separated from the abuser and a staggering 75% are most likely to be killed when attempting to leave.

In addition, even when cases are brought, domestic crimes are difficult to prosecute. Laurie's history as a victim of abuse and domestic violence may very well have been the straw that broke the camels back in the juror's arsenal of distorted facts stacked against her in weighing the evidence at her trial.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, women in prison who reported abuse were more likely to be in prison for a violent offense (42%) than serving a sentence for a drug offence (25%) or property offense (25%). Prison terms for killing husbands are twice as long as for killing wives. 93% of women who killed their mates had been battered by them, and 67% killed them to protect themselves and their children at the moment of murder. Did jurors take this into consideration and conclude Laurie's guilt based solely on stereotyped information?

Silence is the batterer's best friend.  While there are tough new laws being introduced to send a clearer message to abusers that they will be prosecuted and jailed for their offenses, laws alone are not the answer. Education and action from people in the criminal justice system, police, prosecutors, judges and jurors, is what is needed to break the silence and injustice that keeps victims stuck in the black hole of abuse.