In February 2010, Congress introduced an incredible piece of legislation called the International Violence Against Women Act. As an important addition to the domestic Violence Against Women Act of 1994, this bill will increase the United States’ accountability in advocating for women’s safety world-wide. Perhaps the most important aspect of the legislation is the following: “The bill addresses, for the first time, violence against women and girls through all relevant US foreign policy efforts, including its international assistance programs,” Shahid and Sharma wrote. “It would also make the issue a diplomatic priority for the first time, asking the United States to respond within three months to horrific acts of violence against women and girls committed during conflict and war.” Read the full article here. While the bill is in an excellent position to get passed, it is not there yet. To find out more about the International Violence Against Women [...]

Domestic Violence Awareness Month did not go unnoticed by our President and Vice President. On October 27, 2010, President Obama and Vice President Biden hosted an event to highlight their efforts to end violence against women. Television star Mariska Hartigay was in attendance and baseball manager Joe Torres spoke about his experiences growing up in an abusive household, bringing national attention to the issue of intimate partner violence and its affects on children. President Obama announced definitive actions that his administration would take towards ending intimate partner violence. These actions include steps to: Protect Children and Break the Cycle of Violence Improve Legal Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence Increase Sexual Assault Arrests and Successful Prosecutions Help Victims Regain Housing and Financial Independence Read more about this powerful day here and here. – Susan Landrum

While recently watching TV with my roommate, I asked her, “why do the women in TV shows and movies always look like that?” As I was gesturing to the woman on the screen in a skin-tight cat suit with heaps of make-up on, she looked at me and said, “That’s Hollywood. I don’t think anyone expects for normal people to look like that.” Then I realized; do we really expect women to look like that? Do we constantly over-sexualize women and hold them to high expectations of beauty? In my opinion, we do. In TV shows, movies, billboards, songs and advertisements, women are expected to have no wrinkles, a slim hourglass figure, perfect skin, beautiful hair, straight teeth and an impeccable, revealing wardrobe. When I look into the world around me, many of those expectations are transferred onto the everyday woman. By holding high expectations for a woman’s appearance as [...]

This week, actor Charlie Sheen plead guilty  to misdemeanor third-degree assault related to the Christmas Day assault against his wife. While handing down the sentence, the presiding judge made a comment on how domestic violence happens behind closed doors. After reading the article by the Associated Press, I wondered if people assumed that domestic violence was always a “private” issue and something that only happens without the watchful eyes of friends, family and the public. The reality is domestic violence doesn’t always happen behind closed doors. For some batterers, embarrassing their partner in front of friends and family is a tool of abuse. For others, it means constantly visiting their partner at their workplace or monitoring their partner in public places. In some cases women are murdered by their intimate partner in public or at their workplace with numerous witnesses present. Intimate partner violence certainly can occur behind doors, but [...]

Governor of New York, David Paterson will not face charges for attempting to intervene in one of his top aide’s domestic violence case. The New York Times revealed in an article today that Sherr-una Booker, former girlfriend of one of the governor’s closest aides, David W. Johnson, reported to the police that on Oct. 31, 2009, Mr. Johnson ripped off her Halloween costume, choked her, threw her against a bureau and prevented her from calling the police for help. Mr. Johnson’s case was dropped after Ms. Booker failed to appear for the final protective order, although she had twice obtained temporary orders of protection.  Ms. Booker has testified under oath that she was pressured by the state police to drop the charges. Mr. Paterson enlisted the help of his press secretary and others to persuade Ms. Booker to drop her case against Mr. Jonson. So…never mind that Governor Paterson holds the [...]

I watched Larry King Live the other night where a panel of guests weighed in on what appeared to be Mel Gibson’s chilling phone conversations. Dr. Drew Pinski, an addiction specialist, blamed the victim, in this case Oksana Grigorieva, Gibson’s girlfriend and the mother of his eight month old daughter. The alleged voice of Mel Gibson tells Grigorieva, “You know what you’ve done,” and Pinski responds by saying, “We don’t know what his point of view is…What is it she could have done…She plays into this too…What certain kind of person would get involved with someone this volatile?” As if this were not enough, he went further, excusing Gibson’s behavior by referring to his “well documented alcoholism,” and finally surmising that Gibson’s behavior seemed to suggest a Bi-Polar or Hypomania condition, all “easily treated.” Later in the broadcast Dr. Pinski tried to soften some of his comments aimed at the victim but [...]

By now, most of the world has heard about the latest “rant” and criminal investigation of alleged domestic violence by celebrity Mel Gibson. The evidence at this point seems to show that at the very least, he is guilty of the verbal and psychological abuse that is typical of those who use whatever means necessary to control their partners. If charges are filed, we will be watching to see what kind of retribution will be meted out by the legal system. Celebrities and others with money or recognition or any other source of power, are almost never held to the same standards of conduct as the rest of us. But until they are, many people will continue to minimize the behavior and the message will echo loud and clear that we as a nation don’t really care about ending domestic violence and sanctioning those who choose to use it as a [...]