faced in all society’s institutions became more visible
as cases began to be heard in courts around the world.
It became clear that it would require cooperation from
all levels of society to better protect women and
children.
The criminal justice system began to introduce sev-
eral different reforms, including vertical prosecution of
domestic violence cases and the development of pro-
prosecution strategies, including special problem-solving
domestic violence courts where perpetrators could be
diverted into treatment. Other reforms included making
restraining orders easier to obtain and strengthening
their enforcement with penalties, as well as removing
the ability of those arrested to bond out without first
being in front of a judge. Research suggested that spend-
ing the night in jail and getting a stern message from the
judge was a sufficient deterrent for most known batter-
ers, and pro-arrest policies began to be adopted in many
cities across the United States. Later research showed
that some batterers, particularly those who had few
community ties, such as a job or a social network, might
actually become more violent after an arrest, and as bat-
terers began to enter treatment programs, it became
clear that they were as demographically diverse a popu-
lation as were the women they abused.DDeeppeennddeennccyy aanndd FFaammiillyy CCoouurrttss
It also became clear that both men and women
involved in domestic violence often had psychological
and substance abuse problems. Although battered
woman advocates in shelters and support groups dis-
agreed about the origin of these problems, most agreed
that availability of appropriately trained mental health
providers was important. In the beginning, few psychia-
trists, psychologists, social workers, or psychiatric
nurses were trained in working with domestic violence
victims or perpetrators. Protocols were developed for
those in the medical and psychology fields, and large-
scale government funding went into training victim
advocates, shelter workers, and legal and mental health
professionals. The battered woman shelter became the
organizing point for policies and services in the United
States and other countries. In the United States, the legal
system and, in particular, the criminal justice system
remained the gatekeeper for services for both perpetra-
tors and victims, while in other countries, where the
public health system had more impact, services were
provided through that system.
Although the emphasis had been on protection of
women from abusers, it was also necessary to focus onprotection of children from abuse. Studies found that an
overlap of anywhere from 40% to 60% of cases of child
abuse occurred in families with known domestic vio-
lence. Child protection workers who had been trained
to blame the mother for the actual abuse or failure to
protect the child had to relearn how to work with moms
who were also being battered and who tried to protect
their children with little help from agencies in the
community. The issue of protection of children is still
unsolved, with cases going between criminal, depen-
dency and neglect, and family courts, and children are
often inadequately served by any of them.
Many advocates for battered women believe that bat-
terers often use the family courts to continue their con-
tact and control over the woman long after the marriage
is dissolved by insisting on shared parental responsibil-
ity. They further believe that the court declines to use its
power to empower the battered woman and assist her in
the protection of the child. When the court does not inter-
vene, the batterer is not stopped from his continued psy-
chological abuse of both the woman and the child. An
example of how batterers may use the court to their
advantage is by filing numerous court motions, which
become a major psychological and financial drain on
women who earn less money than do men. To further
complicate matters, mental health professionals hired by
lawyers on both sides of highly contested divorce and
custody cases may introduce constructs, such as Parental
Alienation Syndrome and Psychological Munchausen
by Proxy, that have questionable validity. These ques-
tionable constructs have been ruled inadmissible in
criminal courts but are admissible in family courts.Women Who Kill in Self-Defense
Approximately 1,000 women in the United States are
known to have killed their abusive partners in what
they claim was self-defense. In contrast, more than
4,000 women are reportedly killed by their partners
each year. The self-defense laws had to be re-formed
to enable these women to plead not guilty using a
justification defense in criminal court. From the late
1970s to the early 1990s, states began the admissibil-
ity process through case law and legislation, so that
women’s perception of danger and, in particular, the
battered woman’s perception of danger would be
accepted at trial. Until these cases began to be heard,
self-defense was thought to be similar to two men hav-
ing a fight in a bar. To help the triers of fact—the
judges and juries who heard these cases—better under-
stand the battered woman’s perception of danger,40 ———Battered Woman SyndromeB-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:41 PM Page 40