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March 28, 2009
SF: EVENT TO SHED LIGHT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS IN CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS
SF: EVENT TO SHED LIGHT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS IN CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS
March 27, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)
A group of formerly incarcerated battered women will gather Saturday in San Francisco to call for more survivors of domestic violence to be freed from California's prisons.
Organizers hope to shed light on some cases where women were convicted of killing their abusers and served decades in prison before being paroled, or are still incarcerated.
"First, our communities failed to protect them and their children from their abusers' violence, and then failed to consider how the abuse they experienced related to the crime," said Emily Harris of the advocacy group Free Battered Women.
"They're not a threat to society, and they're one of many populations the governor could be looking at as a way of alleviating prison overcrowding," said Harris.
She also argued the move would save the state much-needed money.
Recent laws in California have allowed women incarcerated for killing their abusers to challenge their sentences, using evidence about the effects of domestic abuse.
According to Harris, of the approximately 11,000 women in prison in California, 80 percent have said they've experienced some kind of abuse either as children or adults, and 60 percent have reported physical abuse as adults, primarily from their spouses or domestic partners.
Of that 60 percent, hundreds are in prison for killing their spouses or domestic partners, as an act of defense either of themselves or their children, Harris maintained.
Saturday's event will feature 15 women who will speak about their experiences, read poetry, and discuss pending cases. It begins at 4 p.m. at the Women's Building at 3543 18th St.
http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=SF-BATTERED-WOMEN-bagm-#
Posted by lois at March 28, 2009 10:04 AM