Domestic violence (DV) is a global issue that disproportionately affects women and is largely perpetrated by current or former husbands or intimate partners. Twenty-six percent of women aged 15 and older, or more than 640 million women around the world, have been subjected to intimate partner violence.
DV is closely intertwined with posttraumatic stress, body image, and interpersonal relationships. In honor of Women’s History Month, we will explore how women across the United States have been instrumental in the field of domestic violence advocacy.
What is Women’s History Month?
This month is Women’s History Month. Throughout March, we commemorate the contributions of countless women to the history of the United States in their pursuits for suffrage, gender equality, and human rights. Women’s History Month began in Santa Rosa, CA, where the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women utilized their Education Task Force to plan and execute a Women’s History Week in 1978. Organizers chose March 8th to celebrate International Women’s Day. This inspired communities across the country to hold celebrations for Women’s History Week, starting on March 8th, the following year.
A few years later, a group of five women in Santa Rosa founded the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women’s History Alliance). Together, they lobbied for National Women’s History Month to become nationally recognized. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring March 8th as National Women’s History Week. It was not until 1987 that Congress passed Public Law 100-9, marking March as Women’s History Month.
Each year, the National Women’s History Alliance selects a theme for the month; this year’s theme is “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” The NWHA explains that it is “both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and also a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.”
What Does DV Look Like in the United States?
Though women have spearheaded change in numerous aspects of American life, the focus on women’s contributions in the context of domestic violence is especially imperative. One in three women suffer some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. According to the World Health Organization, intimate partner violence is linked with physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health effects. Some of these include adolescent pregnancy, intrauterine hemorrhage, nutritional deficiency, neurological disorders, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other life-changing outcomes. Intimate partner violence is also the leading cause of serious injury and the second leading cause of death for women under 45 years old.
Here are some of the many strong women who have made strides in the fight against domestic violence in the US.
Mari Sandoz
Mari Sandoz, a frontierswoman born in 1896, wrote the book Old Jules, recounting the violence inflicted upon her family by her father. After Sandoz completed Old Jules in 1933, it was rejected by every major publisher in the United States. She gave up writing for a brief period of time, burning over seventy of her manuscripts. Yet, in January 1934, Sandoz began writing again, revising and ultimately publishing Old Jules.
Despite public shock of her unromantic depictions of her father and her strong language, the book was well-received critically and commercially when it was issued, and became a Book of the Month Club selection in 1935. Sandoz’s decision to distribute her story brought many eyes to the reality of domestic violence. Her bravery in withstanding criticism and publicizing a story that was out of the ordinary for her time period did not go unnoticed.
Tracey Motuzick
Like Sandoz, Tracey Motuzick (formerly Tracey Thurman) was motivated by personal experiences to catalyze the movement against DV. In 1983, Motuzick sued police in Torrington, Connecticut for failing to protect her from her husband’s repeated attacks and threats to kill her and their 22-month-old son. According to court records, Motuzick’s attorneys pursued a civil rights lawsuit under the idea that the defendant police officers had not performed, or “[malperformed]” their official duties. Thurman held police liable under the notion that the police were taking a “laissez-faire approach” to violence and therefore violated her constitutional right to equal protection. Her ex-husband had only been jailed for eight years after his last attack even though Motuzick was in the hospital for eight months, partially paralyzed with 13 stab wounds and a broken neck.
This case led to Connecticut’s 1986 Family Violence Prevention and Response Act, as well as a 1989 movie called A Cry For Help based on Thurman’s story. Thurman received the Coalition Crusader Because Thurman’s case was vastly broadcasted, its reach was unprecedented.
Dr. Lenore Walker
Dr. Lenore Walker followed her passion for research in order to spur change, earning her doctorate in Clinical Forensic Psychology and asking questions that center around the psychological impact of domestic abuse. After traveling to England and hearing from people providing shelter for battered women, Dr. Walker began developing her theory on Battered Woman Syndrome. Dr. Walker went on to create the Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BSWQ) in the 1990’s, assessing the interrelated psychological effects of abuse. Dr. Walker also used her research from the BWSQ to design a treatment program for battered women.
Dr. Walker has expanded her program to include those experiencing different types of gender violence. She has also brought awareness to and taught classes on sex trafficking and human slavery at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Psychology and published a number of books on forensic psychology, Battered Woman Syndrome, and suvivor therapy. Dr. Walker’s novel research brings light to the many effects of the trauma that accompanies the horrors of intimate partner violence.
Jan Langbein
Jan Langbein, the now-CEO of Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support in Dallas, TX, utilizes her political reach in order to bring solace to women, turning a seven-room emergency shelter into a full-service response center for residential and non-residential survivors of domestic violence. Langbein has taken her dedication to advocacy further, often providing expert testimony in court cases on the effects of domestic abuse, training prosecutors, investigators and law enforcement across the country. Furthermore, she co-founded the annual International Conference on Crimes Against Women and acted as the chief strategist during the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act.
Langbein was also the senior policy advisor to the director of the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
Susie B. Winston
Like Dr. Walker, Susie B. Winston highlights the correlation between domestic violence and mental health, working to deliver services in both realms for survivors and their children. Winston partnered with DAWN, the South King County YWCA, LIFEWIRE and New Beginnings to develop a novel program called the Children’s Domestic Violence Response Team (CDVRT) which collaborates with domestic violence advocacy agencies in Washington to provide integrated mental health treatment and domestic violence advocacy services. This specialized and one-of-a-kind program collaborates with domestic violence advocacy organizations in order to address the needs of children who are impacted by domestic violence. Winston’s ability to bridge the gap between intimate partner violence and mental health illuminates the interconnected nature of these two issues and creates a safe haven for women in the South King County area.
Throughout history, women have spearheaded the movement to end domestic violence, from their courage to share their stories to their determination to bring light to the issue. Organizations like Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support and storytellers like Mari Sandoz all work in their corners in order to put an end to this world-wide issue. The organizations, laws, and services provided by women and for women are feats to be commemorated this Women’s History Month.
For Resources on Domestic Violence in Nashville, visit the Family Safety Center. Their services include safety planning, orders of protection, danger assessment, shelter/housing assistance, counseling, crisis intervention, emergency food assistance, children’s services, and domestic violence education. The Family Safety Center is partnered with the Nashville YWCA, the Sexual Assault Center, and others; the FSC is able to refer survivors to appropriate partner agencies. The number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
For further reading on the Battered Woman’s Syndrome Questionnaire and its validity within the mental health community, below are some scholarly articles to look at:
- Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BWSQ) Subscales: Development, Reliability, and Validity
- Dr. Lenore Walker’s 2017 presentation on the BASQ at the APA Annual Convention
- Intimate Partner Violence: Diagnosing the “Hush-hush” American Epidemic in the Trauma Bay, Presentation
- Dr. Lenore Walker’s Empirical Findings on Battered Woman Syndrome
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