Battered Women S Justice

Women battering is one of the most pervasive and dangerous problems in American society today. An estimated 8.7 million women fall victim to violence in their own homes each year. Helping Battered Women provides students with the most current, empirically-based and realistic overview of policies and intervention methods, combining a rich array of perspectives by internationally recognized professors and scholars in the fields of social work, criminology, and clinical psychology. The authors provide cogent and clear arguments for advocacy and social change in such places as battered women's shelters, police precincts, state legislatures, family courts, and criminal courts. The book focuses on a full range of policies and programs which include case management service models, 24-hour hotlines and crisis intervention programs, social worker-police collaboration, mandated arrest of batterers, electronic technology, and group/play therapy for the children of battered women, methods which are all effective in breaking the inter-generational cycle of abuse.

In the landmark Lavallee decision of 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that evidence of "battered woman syndrome" was admissible in establishing self-defence for women accused of killing their abusive partners. This book looks at the trials of eleven battered women, ten of whom killed their partners, in the fifteen years since Lavallee. Drawing extensively on trial transcripts and a rich expanse of interdisciplinary sources, the author looks at the evidence produced at trial and at how self-defence was argued. By illuminating these cases, this book uncovers the practical and legal dilemmas faced by battered women on trial for murder.

For the first time, a study of the ways in which judges respond to abused women.

Controversial and forward-thinking, this volume presents a much-needed analysis of restorative justice practices in cases of violence against women. Advocates, community activists, and scholars will find the theoretical perspectives and vivid case descriptions presented here to be invaluable tools for creating new ways for abused women to find justice.

A training resource for anyone working with battered women, especially in rural areas, Rural Woman Battering and the Justice System is recommended for law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, practitioners, advocates, shelter personnel, and advanced students in related courses of study, as well as academics and researchers.

A groundbreaking overview of transgender relationship violence In the course of their lives, around fifty percent of transgender people will experience intimate partner violence in their relationships—including psychological, physical, or sexual abuse. In Transgender Intimate Partner Violence, Adam M. Messinger and Xavier L. Guadalupe-Diaz bring together a diverse group of scholars, service providers, activists, and others to examine this widespread problem, shedding light on the often-hidden experiences of transgender survivors. Drawing on two decades of research, contributors explore transgender intimate partner violence in all of its complexities, offering an overview of this emerging body of policy, research, and practice. They offer best practices to enhance research, services, and healing for transgender survivors. A revolutionary volume, Transgender Intimate Partner Violence offers insight into how to create a compassionate and inclusive world for transgender communities.

In December 1990 Ohio governor Richard F. Celeste granted clemency to 25 women who had been incarcerated for killing or assaulting abusive partners or stepfathers. Governors in other states quickly followed. This book documents the history of the feminist and social activist groups working within the context of the battered women's movement and the role they playing in making these events possible. The book examines the Ohio movement as a precedent-setting case study, then discusses and analyzes events in six other states where large-scale clemencies were achieved or attempted. Before clemency became a movement goal, feminist legal activists worked for two decades to challenge laws that they argued prevented women from fully defending themselves when accused of killing abusive men. One focus was to ensure that the women who killed could describe the danger with which they had lived and explain the basis of their belief that force was needed to defend their lives. Within a few years, some activists began to frame their legal defense strategies within the language of the battered woman syndrome, a strategy that remains controversial. The book analyses the strategies and achievements of the movement for clemency review, identifying the factors that led to success or failure. The last chapter looks at the post-prison lives of some of the 25 Ohio women who received clemency.

This book takes as its operating premise that violence against women is prevalent throughout the world, that intimate violence is an important aspect of the broader problem of violence against women, and that the legal system has a crucial part to play in combating all forms of violence against women.