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BATTERED WOMEN SYNDROME Dr. Paul Otubusin RECOMMENDATIONS When people hear about a woman who is abused, the first suggestion they have is that she should just leave him. This is very easy to say. But if you are this woman, it is not all that easy. Hoever, the following are our recommendations. First, the abused woman should accept the fact that she is in a destructive relationship. Second, she must reach out to someone - a close friend, neighbor, family member, clergy or someplace that specializes in helping women get out of abusive situations. Third, she must face the fact that what is happening to her is not her fault. Fourth, she must know that no matter what she does it will not end the abuse so long as she stays there. Any woman involved with a wife “beater” needs to get away from him as quickly as possible and begin to rebuild her life. Sometimes, the woman must totally dis-appear for her own safety. In our contemporary society, this is easier said than done. This is a man’s world. Our laws are made for men and by men. The only way to combat violence against women is to acknowledge the fact that every person, man or woman, has the right to be protected against bodily harm. In order to do this, we need to pass an amendment to the constitution that will provide equal rights against bodily harm for the benefit of both men and women. Assault needs to be seen and adjudicated as assault whether it is done to a man or a woman. We must take the victims seriously and hold the offenders accountable for their actions and punish them accordingly. In order to end this circle of violence, we need to overhaul all our community institutions - the police, courts, schools, churches, government shelters and private shelters. The staff of these institutions must be educated in the origin, cause and consequences of violence and trained to intervene effectively. We, as a community, need to establish policies, training programs, standards and goals. Our institutions must be able to identify and respond to the entire family experiencing domestic violence. Since both the woman and her family are victims of these assaults, community institutions must be able to protect the woman so that she in turn can protect her children. As a community, we need to hire fulltime coordinators to monitor all these agencies to make sure that they adhere to the standards and policies we set. A program similar to the one just described was tried in Duluth, Minnesota. At the end of 5 years the women reported that they were free from the violence and that most of them were no longer living with the men who had assaulted them. Women who are abused must have access to shelters, housing, child care, adequate welfare benefits, job training, and living wage jobs in order to free themselves from the violence. People say if the women really want to get out of that situation they can turn to the hospitals, mental health facilities, social welfare services, child protective services, the police, schools, churches, the civil and criminal courts, or the shelters for battered women. But this is not always true. When we take a critical look at the way most of our institutions are set up today we will see that some of these services are not very effective in helping the abused women. All these institutions need to be totally revamped. The staff in most of these institutions need more training in recognizing the signs of abuse and in dealing with the problem. They also need more training in what legal recourse these women have and how they can help change the situation. If a woman ends up in the hospital and if the doctors and medical staff suspect abuse, they should question her thoroughly. The woman should be encouraged to tell what really happened to her. They should then contact a representative of the local family crisis center or a local women’s shelter. They should be able to explain to her the options available, offer support and give her the necessary referral information. We need to overhaul our judicial system. We need an effective policy in arresting the abusers and handing out swift and stiff punishment for these offenses. In order to do this effectively, the police officers must first recognize these assaults as assaults and treat them as such. Women should report and file complaints on all assaults with the police. The abused women should get the names and the badge numbers of the police officers who respond to their calls for the purpose of calling these officers as witnesses in court proceedings. They should also keep records of all emergency room visits and medical bills incurred as a result of the assaults. If possible, they should have photographs of their injuries. All this information will be very helpful to them in court proceedings. Laws need to be modified to enable the police officers to make warrantless arrests on probable cause in domestic assaults. They need to hold offenders overnight for arraignment. In order to do this effectively, the police officers need to be protected from civil liability for wrongful arrests in such cases. The police officers should have printed information on the rights of battered women and appropriate community services to give to the women out of the presence of the battering men. Many cities now have training for dealing with domestic violence for the police officers and counselors. Women should have the ability to obtain restraining orders on demand - 24 hours a day and 7 days a week - easily and without charge since most battered women do not have money available to them. The police officers should enforce the restraining orders by seeking out and arresting violators. Any man who commits an assault in violation of a restraining order should be considered dangerous. The assault charge “should be a non-bailable offense. Such a violation should be treated as a serious offense or felony punishable by imprisonment. Policymakers must restructure their legislative priorities and recognize that domestic violence is far more serious, dangerous and costly to the victims as well as the public than petty robberies, car thefts and minor drug offenses. We need more state an1 federal funds allocated for the provision of paralegal services for battered women. Legal counsel should be available to all battered women. Even though the criminal justice personnel should consider the victim’s wishes, it should be their job - once they are aware of the abuse - to have the abuser arrested and prosecuted. Some states now have a “no drop” policy where the woman’s request to drop the charges is denied. This policy shifts the responsibility of prosecuting off the woman. The courts should consider the danger that an abusive man poses to the battered victim or the community and not just the man’s word or agreement to show up in court before granting him bail. Judges should have and be able to exercise their judicial power to evict the abuser from the home and order them to stay away. Judges should also be aware that instances of joint custody of the children could be dangerous to both the woman and the children. Fathers should only be allowed to visit their children on neutral grounds and only under the supervision of trained professionals. Our legislators and judges should also hand down stiff punishment for abusers and even stiffer punishment to repeat offenders. The clergy should be educated to realize that a family is not necessarily a household of a father, a mother and the children. They should understand that a family can be a household of a mother and her children and put the safety of the family first. We need to establish more shelters that are primarily staffed by women who have survived abuse. These shelters should provide the abused women with the safety, protection and the skills they need to begin new lives devoid of abuse. The services of these shelters should be made available free of charge so that all battered women could have access to these services. Women who have been assaulted should publicize it and should be legally protected to do so. It may prevent someone else from being abused and assaulted by a potential abuser. It is everyone’s duty, irrespective of sexes, to recognize the fact that women have aright to be free from bodily harm. If you know of any woman who is being abused or you suspect that a woman is being abused, do not turn your back on her. Talk to her about it. Offer her your support. Help her to get help to remove herself from the situation. You may be able to help save her life. There are no simple solutions if you or someone you love is living with a violent person. Spousal abuse is a well-hidden crime which needs to be brought more to public awareness. There is a need to educate the public through the churches, school organizations, and school personnel such as teachers, nurses and principals. Psychologists should be more educated on what they should look for and what questions to ask when abuse is suspected. Police officers need to be as detailed as possible when they write their reports of the domestic abuse for court records. Since the stages of getting out of an abusive relationship denial, guilt, enlightenment and, finally, the responsibility of starting a new life- have come to pass, the victims should find positive reinforcement their families or area organizations. The abused women should seek counseling through either professional private therapy or public social services in their area. Most states have toll free telephone numbers of services for abused women You may calll-800-555-1212 for further information or any Domestic Violence Hotline. Group therapy can be beneficial to victims and their violent abusers. Local safe houses should be located for the victims of domestic abuse. A book detailing these safe houses and titled “National Directory of Domestic Violence Program, Guide to Community Shelters, Safe Houses and Service Programs” can be purchased by calling 303-839-1852 or by writing to: National Directory of Domestic Violence Program |
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