From abuse to murder

As we think about addressing the leniency abusive men have gotten, it is worth reminding ourselves that men who murder their wives are not fine blokes having a really bad day.  Pendagon has a review of Why Do They Kill?: Men Who Murder Their Intimate Partners by David Adams.  As feminists have long realized, murder of a women by her partner is not done by a basically good person who just snapped.  Without exception, the men studied  had a history of using violence to gain control, and a lack of control was met with escalating violence.The fact that murder occurs within a history of violence does not show that violence will lead to murder.  But it gives us a very different context for seeing domestic violence, one that locates it squarely in pervasive attitudes:

across the board Adams paints a picture of men who feel that women are their property and who try to control their property through violence.

The picture of violence as coming from the perpetrators’ objectification of their partners provides an alternative to the judge’s view that it was the circumstances of the marriage that had provoked Colin Read and that now those circumstances had gone, sending him to prison would “help no one”.  Pendagon’s reviewer reports that the book is well worth reading. One other interesting facet is what comes out about the victims, who are realists dealing with an impossible situation:

the women mostly report staying in the relationship out of a rational fear that their abusers would try to kill them or family members if they left.

Carnivals!

We’re very pleased to report that we’ve made it into the latest Philosophers’ Carnival, over at the Florida Philosophy Student Blog.   Looks like a lot of other great stuff, too, so go check it out! And don’t forget our deadline of today (using your favourite time zone) for the Carnival of Feminists.

Domestic Violence Sentencing: What To Do

Remember those posts (linked below)on the pathetically lenient domestic violence sentencing in the UK? I’ve been trying various avenues to figure out who to complain to, and I’ve finally met with some success. The Sentencing Guidelines Secretariat has responded to my letter, and they say that they are undertaking a review of domestic violence sentencing in light of all the negative publicity. I’m sure a little more pressure on them would be a good thing, so I urge you to email them, as I did. the For ease of writing, Colin Read is the man fined £2000 for burning his wife with an iron and slashing her with a knife; and Stuart Brown is the one fined £500 for puncing his wife at least 24 times. Even if you’re not in the UK, please do write– the government needs to be made aware that this is an international embarrassment.