By Dr. Brenda L. Russell, Associate Professor of Psychology
“I HAVE BEEN VERBALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY battered and abused, I’ve been threatened with bodily harm, I’ve been threatened to be shot right between the eyes, I’ve been kicked, I’ve had to watch while my ex sexually molested my daughter and not dare interfere for fear of retaliation. Then one day she called 911 so fast and had me arrested, my head was literally spinning in disbelief. When trying to tell the officer that I was provoked and that she was hurting my daughter and that I was protecting my daughter, he told me that I had better keep quiet, ‘I’d charge you with a felony if I could,’ he said … So now what do I do?”
When you read this testimonial, what did you picture in your mind? Were you able to imagine the victim? Could you picture the abuser? Did your brain double-back a little when realizing that the victim in this case was the husband? This is a quote from a victim of domestic violence. When we hear such testimonials, we recoil in angst and wonder why they continue to stay with their abuser. Did you imagine the victim as a female and the abuser as a male? If so, you represent the majority.
It is not surprising that one would imagine this testimonial to be from a female victim of abuse. According to the Department of Justice, 1.3 million women are physically assaulted by their partners annually. What most people don’t realize is that the same report found close to a million men are also victims of physical abuse by a partner, and rates for those in same-sex relationships are similar to those of heterosexual couples. Thanks to the feminist movement, the evolution of the battered woman’s movement has made substantial strides over time. Public awareness has increased and resources have been allocated to help female victims. Our awareness has increased to the point that most of us believe that testimonials must be from female victims of abuse.
Even the term “the battered woman’s syndrome,” first coined in the 1970s by Lenore Walker, connotes a female victim. It also suggests that females who experience abuse will often experience symptomology as a consequence of abuse. While the syndrome and its use are hotly debated among scholars, it has created a standard to which all victims of abuse are compared. In essence, we have created a stereotype of a victim of battering, and she is a female, meek, passive, withdrawn, controlled, pathological, and helpless.
Let’s take the case of Jodi Arias who was recently was convicted of first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, on May 8, 2008. Arias claimed she was defending herself from her abusive ex. However, she didn’t quite meet the stereotype of a battered woman. Arias was anything but passive; she dated other people, was outgoing, and did not display the symptoms of a typical battered woman. Arias used a claim of self-defense to mitigate the death penalty. In contrast, Barbara Sheehan from Queensland, New York, used self-defense to explain why she shot her retired police sergeant husband eleven times with two different guns. Sheehan was acquitted of that offense. The difference was that Sheehan fit the typology of a battered woman. She was a demure woman, controlled by her husband for twenty-four years, and her two children testified to that fact.
While individual court cases are often more complex and this may appear to be a simplistic portrayal of the cases, my point is to illustrate that stereotypes make a difference in our evaluation of defendants and victims. My research has found that in these cases, the more a woman meets our stereotype of a typical battered woman, the more lenient the outcome of the case. So then what happens when a heterosexual man or a partner in a same-sex relationship claims to be the victim of abuse?
Recent evidence from nearly 200 studies in domestic violence suggests that men may be just as likely to be victims of domestic violence as women, though the level of violence may not be as extreme. Men may be reluctant to report for fear of the stigma of being a male victim and not conforming to the masculine stereotype. Heterosexual men also fear they will be perceived as the primary aggressor and subsequently arrested. These fears have been validated as police will likely arrest a male and blame a male for their own victimization. Males are more likely to be arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and receive more severe sanctions than female defendants who commit abuse. We are even more likely to call police if we witness a man hitting a woman but less likely to call when a woman hits a man or for same-sex partners.
My research examines how gender and sexual orientation of the defendant in cases of domestic violence where the defendant kills their partner and claims self-defense, crimes of duress, and crimes of passion influence legal decision making. I have found violence directed toward heterosexual females is perceived as more serious than the same crime committed against a gay male, gay female, or heterosexual male. Results also suggest assaults among gays are often perceived as less serious because the victim and assailant are considered the same size. My studies have found heterosexual female defendants who kill their partner in self-defense, crimes of passion, or commit crimes under duress receive the lowest ratings of guilt and sentencing while heterosexual males and often homosexual females receive the highest ratings. So why is this important?
Legal professionals, law enforcement officers, and laypersons need to recognize the potential for bias and can use this information to provide a social framework from which to assist their clients and understand their own judgments. Research can be used to facilitate gender neutral training for law enforcement, but we all can learn to teach our children about how gender stereotypes influence behavior. Abuse is abuse, and should not be tolerated more for some than others. It is vital that all of us address our own bias of what it means and who is a victim of abuse. While it is not my purpose to minimize the victimization of women, I do hope to bring attention to all victims of intimate partner violence. As the upholders of a justice system founded on the ideals of fair treatment, we share responsibility to protect all types of victims, not just those that fit our stereotypes.