Monday, April 14, 2008

Why can't I find this story?

Last night, I heard a news story. The 11pm news, you know...

A man in Gresham was stabbed to death and the police were saying it was a case of "domestic violence".

I don't know about you, but I am hard-pressed to believe that the woman doing the stabbing was the abuser.

Did anyone else hear about this? I can't find it on local news network web-sites.


And just a self-indulgent p.s. Thanks for posting about Dreamworlds, Kelsey! Kelsey, you may know and love her as one of our awesome Crisis Line Specialists and PWCL's Administrative Assistant, is my new Development Assistant!! We send many thanks to Meyer Memorial Trust. And to Kelsey for taking on this challenge.

2 comments:

82ndCARES said...

When the police says "domestic violence," it means something different from what activists think is domestic violence. Activists view domestic violence as the pattern of power and control; police view domestic violence as individual acts of hitting, beating, stabbing, etc.

Each of these act could constitute a part of ongoing abuse, victim fighting back at the abuser, or victim's attempt to defend self, children or animals--and yet the police can only recognize whether or not the individual act broke the law.

Which is why we can't rely on the police as the primary defense against domestic violence--they can only intervene in response to a specific criminal act, not the pattern of power and control itself.

Linda said...

Thanks emigrl! I really appreciate your comment and yes, I very much agree.