In Victoria, one in five women experience violence in the home. In the U.S., one in four women experience abuse from a partner.
As women experiencing domestic violence often discover, the system that claims to protect them can be their worst enemy, with women who stand up to their abusers finding little support.
Take the case of Marissa Alexander, a young African American mother in Florida. She had a restraining order against her estranged husband, who had a record of abuse. She had a legally licensed gun and had never been arrested. When her husband threatened her life, she fired a warning shot into the wall of her house. No one was hurt, but a Florida jury convicted her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was denied a “stand-your-ground” defence, which permits a person to use force in self-defence if they believe they are in serious threat of harm. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence under Florida’s mandatory minimum sentencing rules.
Alexander’s outrageous treatment exposes institutionalised racism and sexism in the United States. In Australia, it evokes memories of Victorian woman, Heather Osland. Heather and her children endured years of extreme physical, sexual and psychological abuse from Frank Osland before it became too much. In 1996, Osland was convicted of murder for her part in killing him. She was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years in prison. Her adult son, David, who struck the fatal blow, was acquitted on the basis that he acted in self-defence of himself and his mother. Heather refused to plead guilty to manslaughter and has always maintained that she acted in self-defence. She was finally released on parole in 2005.
These two cases — where women became targets of criminal “justice” because they defended themselves — highlight how sexism is hot-wired into our laws. For women of colour who escape violence, there are the additional problems of racist police, judicial bias, language barriers and fear of deportation.
Radical Women demands the immediate release and pardon of Marissa Alexander and an end to race and sex discrimination in the criminal justice system, including an end to mandatory minimum sentencing. Radical Women also calls for massive increases in funding for jobs, support for families, women’s refuges, public housing and support services for everyone fleeing domestic violence, regardless of their sexual orientation or immigration status.
Add your signature to the thousands calling for her pardon: Pardon Abused Mother Marissa Alexander for Standing Her Ground www.thepetitionsite.com/503/600/056/dont-imprison-marissa-alexander-for-standing-her-ground/
Write to Marissa Alexander DC# J46944, Lowell Annex, 11120 NW Gainesville Rd, Ocala, FL 34482-1479, United States of America.
