domestic violence in topeka
[trigger warning: domestic violence & rape]
this needs a close reading.
Facing Cuts, a City Repeals Its Domestic Violence LawBy a vote of 7 to 3, the City Council repealed the local law that makes domestic violence a crime.
becauseThe move, the councilors were told, would force District Attorney Chad Taylor to prosecute the cases because they would remain a crime under state law, a conclusion with which he grudgingly agreed. The Council also approved negotiations to resolve the impasse.
the build upEighteen people have been arrested on domestic violence charges since September and released without charges because no agency is accepting new cases. That has raised concerns among advocates for victims of domestic violence, some of whom gathered Tuesday outside government buildings to express outrage over the gamesmanship.
[snark]women taking a back burner? this never happens.[/snark]
* * *
up until i was 21, whenever i saw my parents it was pretty much me witnessing my mom experiencing domestic violence at the hands of my father. it was pretty much a daily experience when i was living at home. and when i stopped living at home, i would see it whenever i when home to visit.
the thing i want to point out is this: it was "normal" to me. and it wasn't just "normal" to me, but domestic violence laws didn't really come on line until i was a teenager. it was "normal" to society, too. the "normality" was such that it never occurred to me do anything about it and no one else who saw it did anything either - family, friends, church members, co-workers, nobody.
this alone speaks to just how much power male privilege has over everyone's live. and just how well it creates a veil that hinders anyone from looking closely at it.
* * *
historically:
- raping your wife was not considered rape in the usa in most states until the 1970's.
- men beating women was not considered a crime in a "domestic" setting. beating another man's wife was a crime? this speaks to the social norm that viewed/views women as chattel.
- where women are the abusers, there are issues of disbelief around the reinforcing gender roles where women are weak and agency-less and men are strong and full of agency. gender roles that bolster male privilege.
this needs a close reading.
Facing Cuts, a City Repeals Its Domestic Violence LawBy a vote of 7 to 3, the City Council repealed the local law that makes domestic violence a crime.
becauseThe move, the councilors were told, would force District Attorney Chad Taylor to prosecute the cases because they would remain a crime under state law, a conclusion with which he grudgingly agreed. The Council also approved negotiations to resolve the impasse.
the build upEighteen people have been arrested on domestic violence charges since September and released without charges because no agency is accepting new cases. That has raised concerns among advocates for victims of domestic violence, some of whom gathered Tuesday outside government buildings to express outrage over the gamesmanship.
[snark]women taking a back burner? this never happens.[/snark]
* * *
up until i was 21, whenever i saw my parents it was pretty much me witnessing my mom experiencing domestic violence at the hands of my father. it was pretty much a daily experience when i was living at home. and when i stopped living at home, i would see it whenever i when home to visit.
the thing i want to point out is this: it was "normal" to me. and it wasn't just "normal" to me, but domestic violence laws didn't really come on line until i was a teenager. it was "normal" to society, too. the "normality" was such that it never occurred to me do anything about it and no one else who saw it did anything either - family, friends, church members, co-workers, nobody.
this alone speaks to just how much power male privilege has over everyone's live. and just how well it creates a veil that hinders anyone from looking closely at it.
* * *
historically:
- raping your wife was not considered rape in the usa in most states until the 1970's.
- men beating women was not considered a crime in a "domestic" setting. beating another man's wife was a crime? this speaks to the social norm that viewed/views women as chattel.
- where women are the abusers, there are issues of disbelief around the reinforcing gender roles where women are weak and agency-less and men are strong and full of agency. gender roles that bolster male privilege.