Advice : Prosecuting Domestic Violence: ‘Women and Children Fall through the Cracks’

The court system is better than it used to be but not as good as we wish it were. There’s gender bias in the court system. There’s a lack of incentive to make the batterer stop battering. She’s sometimes reluctant to press charges for fear of retaliation. Women are generally re-victimized by law enforcement, the judicial system and society.

There are many cases in which women who have killed or injured their batterers (are convicted) without the testimony of experts. In most cases it is self-defense. Self-defense is the perception of imminent danger. Even though he may not be choking her at that moment, she still is in immediate danger.

Another thing that seems to occur is that women generally are convicted of first-degree murder. The sentences are stiffer: That pertains to gender bias.