AMERICAN RURAL BATTERED WOMEN AND JUSTICE SYSTEM

American Rural Battered Women and the American Justice System

American Rural Battered Women and the American Justice System

Introduction

Battered women living in rural communities have many of the same experiences as battered women in urban communities. However, battered women living in rural communities have certain experiences and face certain problems that are unique to rural locations. The relationship of what Websdale (1999) calls rural patriarchy is important in explaining rural woman battering. By obtaining a greater understanding of the relationship between rural patriarchy and battered women then efforts to foster community concern and interventions could make a difference.

Addressing a significant void in the extant literature on the topic of domestic violence, Rural Woman Battering and the Justice System presents a thorough and arresting look at the experiences of battered women in rural communities. While living in the rural areas of Kentucky, Neil Websdale conducted his ethnographic research, and he situated the voices of rural battered women at the center of his ethnography. He clearly demonstrates how rural patriarchy and the insidious "good ol??? boy network" of law enforcement and local politics sustain and reproduce the subordinate, vulnerable, isolated position of many rural women. Taking into account that traditional patterns of intervention can often put women in isolated communities at further risk, the author recommends a coordinated multiagency approach to rural battering that is spearheaded by state feminist agencies.(Hart,1991)

Discussion

Domestic violence victims are both similar to and strikingly different from other victims of violent crime. Thus, they require all the information, assistance and input that facilitates the committed, informed participation of other victims and witnesses, but beyond these, they require enhanced protection and advocacy. Battered women are often similar to other victims of violent crime in that they want perpetrators to stop their conduct, to pay dues for the crimes committed and to compensate victims for the losses sustained as a result of their criminal conduct. They are also similar to other crime victims in that they have interests in justice that may differ from the interests of the justice system. They may want privacy or anonymity in the prosecution process while the criminal justice system values public accountability.(Sonkin,1985)

They may want speedy disposition while the justice system labors at a snail's pace. They may want input in decisions about plea negotiations and sentencing while the justice system concludes that this inclusiveness precludes the expeditious handling of criminal cases, unduly interferes with prosecutorial discretion or intrudes upon the rights of defendants. They may want sentences for perpetrators that are specifically crafted to protect victims while courts may focus on offender rehabilitation and ignore victim safety. What is also true about battered women, as it is of other victims of violent crime, is that they are not all cut from the same cloth and do not all want the same outcomes.(Hart,1991)

significance

Battered women have varied interests in participation in prosecution process and in outcomes. There is no profile of a battered woman witness that fits all or most battered ...