A Women's History

For many generations, women have been subjugated by men. Even up until the last century, a man—whether it be a father, spouse, or brother—could commit a woman to an asylum for something as simple as a case of mild depression. She then could be left there for the rest of her life because she was seen as weak or was simply unwanted.

There has always been a struggle for power, and men have been arbitrarily anointed with it. While women's movement of the 1970s demanded equality, it is still lacking today.

Francine Hughes was a mother of three in Michigan who married her husband when she was all of 16. Her husband was an alcoholic and was often abusive towards her. He was verbally, physically, and emotionally traumatizing. He raped her frequently. Francine reported the abuse to police, who said that they could not intervene as they had not seen the abuse occur. Although Francine eventually divorced her husband, she allowed him to stay with her following a work injury, and despite their marital status, he continued to beat her.

One night, after a severe beating and fearing for her life, Francine killed her ex-husband by lighting the bed he was sleeping in on fire. This case gained national attention and became known as “The Burning Bed.” During her trial, Francine’s attorney was able to convince the jury that she was temporarily insane at the time of the crime, and she was found not guilty. This case brought to light the Battered Women’s Defense and the plight of women who were brutalized by their partners. Although this notion was treated with skepticism by the legal system, it set in motion the creation of life-saving shelters and brought about our modern-day recognition of domestic violence. This was 40 years ago.

In the early '90s, eight women were incarcerated at Framingham Correctional Facility for Women in Massachusetts. The Framingham 8, as they came to be known, were each serving time for having killed a husband, ex-husband, boyfriend, or lover. All had been abused. Each woman asked that their sentence be commuted because of battered women’s syndrome, as had been used previously with Francine Hughes. This defense maintained that women serving time for killing batterers in self-defense are essentially deprived of their rights in our justice system—for example, by having been denied the use of restraining orders.

The #MeToo movement was founded in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Only one-quarter of sexual assaults are reported to police. Often the victim doesn’t want to move forward with the charges because they fear the aftermath if the accused perpetrator is released. The movement picked up traction in 2017 when the news broke that film producer Harvey Weinstein had used his position in Hollywood to take advantage of dozens of women. The accusations lodged against him included women being forced to massage him, other criminal sexual acts, and predatory sexual assault such as first-degree rape (which causes physical injury to the victim during the act of rape). Due to the statute of limitations, he could only be prosecuted for some of the claims, but just this week he was sentenced to 23 years in a New York State prison.

Larry Nassar was a physician who was part of the USA gymnastics national team medical staff as an athletic trainer. He was accused of sexual assault of 250 women and one boy beginning in 1992. His victims included numerous members of the Olympic and USA women’s national gymnastics team. Team members complained but it wasn’t until 2015 that action was taken. Aly Raisman, an Olympic gold medalist also said she was abused when she was 15 years old. One gymnast after another corroborated Aly’s story from their own personal experience. It took years for the victims to be believed. This is the ultimate example of "turning the other way" instead of immediately contacting legal authorities. It is once again placing girls in a vulnerable position without protection and not giving their complaints legitimacy.

I had the experience of sitting in a courtroom watching a woman I had worked with as her psychotherapist. She attempted to use the battered woman’s defense. The judge asked the defense attorney why my patient didn’t just leave the relationship because her spouse was violent. Lenore Walker, who coined the term battered women’s syndrome, was one of the expert witnesses, and as she spoke, the judge shook his head and commented that he didn’t understand.

Each of these stories addresses the struggle women have had to be heard. Women’s credibility is often called into question. The voices of men drown them out. Finding safety, money, and trying to keep a family together take priority over challenging an abusive man.