Insult to Injury

Rethinking Our Responses to Intimate Abuse

Author: Linda G. Mills
ISBN: 0691096392

Locking up men who beat their partners sounds like a tremendous improvement over the days when men could hit women with impunity and women fearing for their lives could expect no help from authorities. But does our system of requiring the arrest, prosecution, and incarceration of abusers lessen domestic violence or help battered women? In this already controversial but vitally important book, we learn that the criminal justice system may actually be making the problem of domestic violence worse. Looking honestly at uncomfortable facts, Linda Mills makes the case for a complete overhaul and presents a promising alternative. The evidence turns up some surprising facts about the complexities of intimate abuse, facts that run against mainstream assumptions: The current system robs battered women of what power they do hold. Perhaps as many as half of women in abusive relationships stay in them for strong cultural, economic, religious, or emotional reasons. Jailing their partners often make

Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publish Date: 2003

Subjects: Law / Family Law / General, Social Science / Women's Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Relationship Violence)