The past issue of New York Magazine contained an interesting article. It was a discussion of the decline of murder rates in the five boroughs of New York City. The majority of the conversation centered around the drug trade and the murders resulting from it. Same old same old. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a substantial amount of the article discussed murders in domestic violence settings. Crime fighters often ignore this statistic because of the sacred privacy of the domestic sphere. Bringing the idea of intimate partner/familial murder into the popular lexicon is extremely important. The more discussion of domestic violence, the more support there will be when victims come forward. Effective preventative steps (yes, advocacy and educational efforts can be preventative) will hopefully help lower the rates of domestic violence and murder.
I would be interested to hear people's ideas for bringing domestic violence further into the limelight. Informative posters on the subway? A debate topic? Infomercials?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
NY Magazine
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2 comments:
Colleen--
Agreed. I am always ecstatic when people want to delve into the private sphere (oh, of course for all the times the government tries to regulate whom I do or do not sleep with...but thats a digression). Molly suggested the Valenti Book "Full Frontal Feminism" and, right before I read your post, I read this passage:
"Violence Against Women is one of those things that we kinda deal with all the time, but not in a substantive way. I mean, how many TV movies will you see (Lifetime addicts, I'm talking to you!) in which women are victims of rape or domestic violence? Shit, there are television shows dedicated to addressing the horror of sexual crimes--think 'law and order SVU.' We have V-day, a reinterpretation of Valentine's Day, when organizations bring attention to violence against women on Valentine's Day. We're taught about rape in school. Domestic violence is a well-known problem. It's not like these are issues that people don't know about. So you would think that we would be making leaps and bounds in dealing with violence against women. But it's just the opposite We're so accustomed to seeing violence against women that it's become normalized. We accept it as an inevitable fact of life, rather than an epidemic that we need to fight on a large scale And that's not okay. "
While I disagree with this quote in some sense (i.e. I don't think that everyone views relationship violence as wrong or as a problem and some education helps in that area), I do agree that sometimes its hard to get people to care about domestic violence. It's as if everyone knows it happens, and people care in the abstract, but not enough to actually do something about it unless they or someone they know are victims of the problem. So, sometimes, I think its useful to connect domestic violence to other issues that seem to spark interest...and then other times I just sit in my little room and wonder--how do you get people to CARE??
I don't have an answer or even a suggestion off the top of my head...but I just wanted to share a thought with you.
This is a tricky issue from a policy standpoint. We have such a double standard for "privacy" in this country that it only complicates the issue. Lawrence v. Texas (the single most celebrated court case in my office) protected individual's rights to privacy (and let men and women go at without fear of persecution). One of the main justifications for Griswold v. Connecticut (birth control access) was that the government should not be interfering in the private lives of citizens. And then of course, there's Roe.
These were celebrated cases! And yet, there are constant attacks on privacy defined as a constitutional right. Unless of course you're dealing with issues of domestic violence. Then all of a sudden, the police are hesitant to get involved. Where is the disconnect? I understand that it is a highly sensitive situation, fraught with taboos, guilt and shame, but it's time we get this issue out there! It already is in the form of mass entertainment (ie Law and Order SVU) but let's get people pissed off about it! What's it going to take?
I agree Colleen. Public displays are key. So is education. It should be part of a high school curriculum. Perhaps in health class. V-day and the VagiMons are a great way to connect with people, but we need to be doing more.
Now you got me all riled up.
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