Dr. Benjamin West
English 101
June 28, 2013
Domestic Violence and Stiffer Penalties No one should have to suffer from the physical, mental, or emotional abuse from domestic violence; that is why I feel there should be stiffer penalties for domestic violence offenders. Every time a victim left a violator, to them it never felt right because they were caught up in the false sense of security and the realness of fear and let’s not forget the fake love. Break the chains that bind you women to these weak males. They are only in the ring trying to win a championship and are using women as their sparring partners. Domestic violence has been an unfortunate fact of life for many women in this nation, one that traditionally …show more content…
has been addressed—or overlooked by state and local law enforcement agencies. Troubled by the widespread, enduring problem that women have faced. In 1994, Congress decided that the issue finally needed to be addressed at a federal level. Congress passed the eponymously named Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to deal with that long standing problem. Wake up America! The more of us who speak out against this crime and the need for stiffer sentences is the only way to get this horrendous crime out of the dark and into the light. Kathleen Currul-Dykeman writes, “Domestic violence has been mistreated by the criminal justice system for years. These cases were ignored by police officers and neglected by courts hardly viewed as criminal domestic violence was treated as a family matter. (3) Domestic violence has been a long standing problem that has been hidden and condoned for years.
It is time to stop the violence and give stiffer penalties to these criminals. The BYU Journal of Public Law states, “Until the 20th century, society effectively condoned family violence, following a common law rule known as rule of thumb”, which barred a husband from restraining a wife of her liberty by chastisement with a stick thicker than a man’s thumb.” This rule, originally intended to protect women from excessive violence in fact led to reluctance on the part of the government to interfere to protect women even when serious violence occurred. (foot note …show more content…
1) How can we as a society give life sentences to murderers and sometimes even the death penalty.
How can we as a society come together and vote for stiffer penalties for those found guilty of aggravated battery, assault, etc., and then not even take a look at these criminals that’s guilty of the same crime but that crime is condone because it is a family matter. Well family does matter let’s stick up for our families and impose the same sentences on all criminals no matter what family they come from. Domestic violence breeds criminals. Another point that the BYU Journal talks about says “ The legacy of societal acceptance of a family violence endures even today. In cases where a comparable assault by a stranger on the street would lead to a lengthy jail term, a similar assault by a spouse will result neither in arrest nor prosecution. For example a 1989 study in Washington DC, found that in over 85 percent of the family violence cases where a woman was found bleeding from wounds police did not arrest her abuser; Moreover, family violence accounts for a significant number of murders in this country. One third of all women who are murdered die at the hands of a husband or boyfriend.(Para 2 footnote
1) In Conclusion, we are all given birth from a woman. Women should be treated as queens not a punching bag. Do we not love our mothers, aunts and sister’s. It is a shame that we as a society have turned our heads to these criminals; they need consequences for their actions that is the only way to end this crime. Consider the following: “Violence is the leading cause of injuries to women ages 15 to 44, more common than automobile accidents, muggings, and cancer deaths combined. As many as 4 million women a year are the victims of domestic violence. Three out of four women will be victim of a violent crime sometime during their life.” (BYU Journal of Public Law footnote 2). At the end of the day, society will be able to sleep more peaceful at night knowing they voted for stiffer penalties for these cold hearted criminals. Women will have warmer hearts knowing that they no longer are victims to those unpunished violators of domestic violence. Most importantly the crime rate will quickly diminish.
Works Cited
Currul-Dykeman,K.(2010) Understanding the effects of the court community on the processing of domestic violence cases.(order No. 3412995,Northeastern University). Proquest Dessertations and these, 272-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/746479080/accountid>8289.(prod.academic_MSTAR_746479080
H.R. Rep, 1993, Violence Against Women Act, BYU Journal of Law, Volume 12, Issue 1; Pages 103-395