Blame the victim, again; Arrest women for protecting themselves

Explain this to me...if men are responsible for most cases of DV (over 90%) why then are women 3 times more likely to be arrested for it??  Oh, that’s right, I almost forgot...it IS illegal to defend yourself when you are an abuse victim.  Because victims are not allowed to defend themselves!  What a load of bullshit!!

Original:  Women three times more likely to be arrested for domestic violence | Society | guardian.co.uk

Women three times more likely to be arrested for domestic violence

While the vast majority of perpetrators of domestic violence are men, women are arrested in three of every 10 incidents and men in only one of 10, a study says

Women were more likely to use a weapon, but often to protect themselves ... a victim of domestic abuse.

Photograph: Don McPhee

Men are responsible for most cases of domestic violence, but women are three times more likely to be arrested for incidents of abuse, research reveals today.

A report into domestic abuse and gender by Bristol University found that the majority of cases involved alcohol misuse, that women were more likely to use a weapon to protect themselves and that children were present in the majority of cases.

Previous research has shown that the vast majority of domestic violence perpetrators recorded by the police are men (92%) and their victims mainly female (91%), with many more repeat incidents recorded for male than female perpetrators. While the majority of incidents of domestic violence recorded by the police involve male-to-female abuse, little is known about the nature of incidents where men are recorded as victims and women as perpetrators, nor about the circumstances where both partners are recorded as perpetrators.

The new study, by professor Marianne Hester of the University of Bristol's school for policy studies and carried out on behalf of the Northern Rock Foundation, looked at 96 examples from 692 "perpetrator profiles" tracked from 2001 to 2007.

The research looked at 32 cases where women were the aggressors, 32 where men were in that role, and 32 where it was both partners.

It found that 48% of the cases were related to couples still in a relationship, 27% involved violence after separation and the rest involved couples in the process of splitting up.

Some 83% of men had at least two incidents recorded; one man had 52. In contrast, 62% of women recorded as perpetrators had only one incident recorded, and the highest number of repeat incidents for any woman was eight.

Men were significantly more likely than women to use physical violence, threats and harassment, and to damage the women's property; women were more likely to damage their own.

Men's violence tended to create a "context of fear and control", the researchers said, whereas women were more likely to use verbal abuse or some physical violence.

But women were more likely to use a weapon, although this was often to stop further violence from their partners.

All cases with seven or more incidents, most of which involved men, led to arrest.

But in general, women were three times more likely to be arrested: during the six-year period, men were arrested once in every 10 incidents and women arrested once in every three.

Issues of divorce and child contact were common in "dual perpetrator" cases, and also included the greatest number of instances where both partners were heavy drinkers.

Children were present in 55% of cases when the violence or other abuse took place. In cases involving post-separation violence, problems of child contact were cited in 30% of cases.

Hester said: "Both men and women can be violent, but there are significant differences in the way men and women use violence and abuse against their partners and also the impact of such behaviour.

"This needs to be taken into account if we want to ensure greater safety for individuals. The research has crucial lessons for the criminal justice system in this respect."

Marks on her face don’t prove DV

Oh, really...they argued about her leaving, interesting....then when police arrive SHE has marks on her face from being slapped, he has no marks on him at all...BUT he claims he didn’t strike her that in fact HE was the one who was struck.  Oh, ok...THEN charges were dropped against him AFTER an investigation...hhhmmm, take a look at the jobs he has held, oh and a comment on the article at the original site:  states that his family owns half the county.  NOW I see where justice was served....NOT!!!  I just hope she doesn’t end up on my murder-suicide map (erm, well when I get it going again)!

By Mary Kelli Palka Story updated at 12:07 PM on Friday, Aug. 28, 2009

Domestic-violence charges against Yulee Middle School’s new principal, the former mayor of Fernandina Beach, were dropped after the investigation by the State Attorney's Office.

James D. Rodeffer, 49, was charged Aug. 18 with domestic violence after an incident at his home with his wife, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.

He and his wife, Heather Rodeffer, told deputies they started arguing over her leaving while they had visitors. She said her husband followed her into a bedroom, slammed the door, grabbed her by the arm and slapped her in the face, according to an incident report.

James Rodeffer told deputies he didn’t strike his wife, according to the report, but said he grabbed and pushed her. He said he was struck during the incident, but deputies said they saw no sign of injury on him. The report said Heather Rodeffer’s face had some redness and there was bruising on her upper arms.

Rodeffer’s previous positions include Fernandina Beach mayor and a city commissioner, Callahan Middle School principal and director of secondary education for Nassau County schools.

The Rodeffers and a spokeswoman with the school district couldn’t be reached for comment late Thursday. But Assistant State Attorney Wes White, director of the Nassau County office, said the charge was dropped Thursday after the incident was investigated and the involved parties were questioned.

Domestic-violence charge against Yulee principal dropped | Jacksonville.com

Movement helping release battered women from prison

original:   Financial adviser from Chesterfield helped spark domestic violence movement - STLtoday.com

Joe Church has been an advocate for releasing battered women from prison in Missouri. (Robert Cohen/P-D)

BY STEPHEN DEERE

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/30/2009

When Joe Church attended his 20-year high school reunion in 1997, he noticed that an old friend was missing. What happened to Michelle Povis?
That question proved to be a catalyst for the fight to release 11 women who claimed to be victims of abuse.
Church learned that Michelle Povis, who had become Michelle Hendrickson, had been convicted of murdering her husband.
Church couldn't understand how the girl he knew at Mercy High School, a private Catholic school in University City, could kill. He called the prison, Tipton Correctional Center, and arranged a visit.

"I didn't call with the assumption she was guilty or innocent," said Church, 50, a financial adviser from Chesterfield. "She was a friend, a classmate, who was in prison. … What could cause that to happen?"
In 1994, Hendrickson shot her husband, Rodney, while he slept in their home in St. Charles County. They had four children, ages 5 to 11.

Hendrickson told police that her husband tied her up, beat her and raped her that night. She also said she had suffered years of abuse, with her husband throwing her off a roof once because she dropped a hammer.
Hendrickson pleaded guilty in 1997 to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years. At her sentencing, Rodney Hendrickson's relatives said that it was wrong for Hendrickson to shoot her children's father and that her punishment should be harsher.

Church told his mother Hendrickson's story shortly after the prison visit. "My mom said, 'You're going to do something, aren't you?'" he recalled.
Church started calling domestic violence advocates. Soon, the state's four law schools became interested. They would go on to identify 10 other cases to take on.

Still, Hendrickson failed in early attempts for clemency or parole. Finally, in October 2008, the parole board freed her, but only after she had served 14 years.

Hendrickson, now 49, moved in with her parents in St. Charles, and Church helped get her a job with a maintenance company. Hendrickson has become friends with Church, his wife and their four children.
While the efforts of lawyers have helped free other women, Hendrickson had to serve nearly her entire sentence. Still, her case helped touch off the movement.

Church's role in that movement now is mostly to provide "moral support." "I'm just very fortunate I was put in a position to help somebody," he said.

Women are dying while money just sits in account

original:  http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-domestic-violence-funds.art.artaug30,0,1005065.story

In Connecticut, couples pay a $10 surcharge when they take out a marriage license. According to state law, funds from the surcharge are to be used to help pay for badly needed domestic violence and sexual assault programs. But more than $1 million is accumulating in an account at the state Department of Social Services and is not being spent for the surcharge's intended purpose.

What's going on?

"To have funds just sitting in an account while domestic violence victims cannot access services due to inadequate staffing at our programs is irresponsible of the state," says Erika Tindill, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

In Connecticut, there are 18 domestic violence programs that provide a wide array of services, including 24-hour hotline support, emergency shelter, support groups, counseling and assistance with the legal system. These services receive funding from several sources, including the federal government, but the marriage license surcharge funding stream is critical.

This is not general fund money. Its allocation doesn't depend on the passage of a state budget. It can be compared with the funding for Legal Aid services, which in large part comes from interest on money held in escrow for people buying homes.
We can't imagine why DSS is pooling this money in an account when the services it would pay for are so critically needed.

What's your opinion? Make it count with a Letter to the Editor. Visit www.courant.com/letters and scroll down.

evil goes undetected in our midst

 

From The Sunday Times

August 30, 2009

Bojan Pancevski

HOW did he manage to get away with it for so long? The people of Antioch, California, will be asking themselves this as details emerge of the horrific alleged crimes of Phillip Garrido that have been unfolding in their midst. 

It is the same question still being asked in Amstetten in Austria more than a year after it emerged that Josef Fritzl had raped and incarcerated his daughter and fathered seven children with her, all in the cellar of his home on a busy road in the town centre. And perhaps in Gloucester, where Fred and Rosemary West murdered at least 12 young women at their house in the 1970s and 1980s.

In Garrido’s case, some commentators have attempted to put the community’s lack of suspicion down to a modern sense of alienation from society or, alternatively, to California’s traditional tolerance of unorthodox behaviour. In a culture whose perception is satiated by the excesses of reality television, goes the argument, the reality of one’s own backyard blurs into insignificance.

The phenomenon is not rooted in any one culture: crimes ranging from those of the Wests in the UK to those of the paedophile Marc Dutroux in Belgium and similar cases in Japan, Russia and Brazil testify to that.

What many of these cases have in common is the apparent failure of law enforcement agencies to exercise basic scrutiny. The California police — who are calling Garrido’s pathetic makeshift prison a “compo... More click here:  How evil goes undetected in our midst - Times Online

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Sex trafficking doesn’t really happen in America, think again

Five of the six have been caught, there is information at the end of the article about the sixth and who to call if you have info.

Six Charged in Largest Domestic Human Sex Trafficking Case in Houston

Crime Blotter  August 29, 2009

HOUSTON—Five men and one woman have been charged in a 16-count indictment with conspiracy and sex trafficking of children and forcing and coercing adults to engage in commercial sex acts, United States Attorney Tim Johnson, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice´s Criminal Division Lannie A. Breuer, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Special Agent-in-Charge Richard C. Powers of the FBI´s Houston Field Office, and Houston Chief of Police Harold Hurtt announced today. This case represents the single largest domestic sex trafficking case in the history of the Southern District of Texas.

"It is a horrible reflection on our society when adults prey on the vulnerabilities of children and reduce them to indentured sex slaves," Johnson said. "Whenever and wherever offenses of such a depraved nature occur, our law enforcement community will respond with the sum of our collective prosecutorial resources."

"The protection of the innocent and the most vulnerable among us is one of the most important obligations of law enforcement," said Breuer. "Sex trafficking, especially the trafficking of children, is unconscionable and federal law enforcement is working closely with state and local authorities to fight this most reprehensible sort of exploitation."

Five of the six defendants were arrested late Monday, Aug. 24 and early Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009, in a coordinated effort between federal and local law enforcement with warrants that issued following the return of a sealed indictment by a Houston grand jury on Aug, 4, 2009. The indictment, which was unsealed today, charges John Butler, 47, William Hornbeak, 34, Jamine Lake, 27, Andre McDaniels, 39, Kristen Land, 28, all of Houston, and Ronnie Presley, 35, formerly of Houston and currently residing in Tulsa, Okla., with conspiracy to traffic women and children for the purposes of commercialized sex; sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; transportation of minors; transportation; and coercion and enticement. Upon conviction, each count of sex trafficking and transportation of minors carries a maximum of life in prison. Each count of transportation carries up to 10 years in prison, while coercion and enticement carries up to 20 years in prison, while conspiracy carries up to five years in prison. All charges carry up to a $250,000 fine.

Butler, Hornbeak, Lake, McDaniels and Land were arrested in Houston. At least one defendant—McDaniels—is expected to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley at 2:00 p.m. today. The United States will ask the court to continue to hold McDaniels and the other defendants in federal custody without bond pending trial.

A warrant remains outstanding for the arrest of Presley.

Anyone having information regarding his whereabouts is asked to contact their local office of the FBI or the FBI Houston Field office at (713) 693-5000.

American Chronicle | Six Charged in Largest Domestic Human Sex Trafficking Case in Houston

A man who 'gets' it

I would like to ask you to read what is here, but to go ahead and click the more link at the bottom of this and read the entire article.  I am glad that I had the pleasure of reading this...my title says it all as far as how I feel about this!

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 - 17:07 | Ilya Shambat

 After a woman who, fearing for her safety, called herself “Claire,” revealed the disgusting details of a gang rape that was allegedly perpetrated against her by an Australian football team, 100,000 people responded in support of the man who, according to her testimony, orchestrated the gang rape against her.

Charmyne Palavi, who also went on TV to reveal the reality of the football gang rape scene, was denounced on the Internet as a “lying head case,” and hateful messages were written toward her both by women and by men.

“Claire,” Charmyne, and everyone else who has experienced this and similar crimes: This is for you.

In an Internet discussion, an Australian man referred to Muslim men who gang rape young women in Sydney as “imported Muslim scum.” While that is indeed a fitting description of those people, I pose a question. Why is not the same epithet – minus the imported Muslim part - being applied to Australians who do the exact same thing to Australian women and teenage girls?
The people who are behind the “lying head... MORE

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