What is the point of having the Violence Against Women Act when a woman can murder her spouse?

and then play the abused wife card?
The VAWA was created so that women can get out of an abusive relationship through various legal maneuvers such as restraining orders, legal assistance, DV shelters, etc. However women like Mary Winkler can murder their husband and claim DV even though she had all these resources available to her to exit her so called 鈥渁busive鈥?relationship.
My question is this: With all of these resources women have in order to leave an abusive relationship why are they still able to kill and then claim abuse and get away with murder?

Satanls: You make a common and ill-conceived argument in that since statistics support that men are abusive more than women it is OK to let a few injustices slip through the cracks since the greater good is served by helping women victims of DV. Yet I would bet that if there was one injustice that one woman faced you would change your tune and demand that action be taken.

Well, the problem is everyone went way overboard on the issue of domestic violence against women, so we instituted all these laws and VAWA and other things, and now its basically legal to kill your husband. You sure as hell can claim domestic or sexual abuse and they'll let you off.

Now this doesn't happen very often, but 1 case is 1 too many.

Domestic abuse is nothing to shake a stick at, but bulls*hit like this should not be tolerated either.

I completely agree with you.


Satan: Your kidding me, right? The majority of violence in the world is against MEN!

You make an excellent point...

More men die from violence than women. The whole idea of "violence against women" being an issue implies that women are somehow more important.

because men do it a hella more often then women do. and men beat girls down way harder. sure a woman can shoot her man here and there, but hey, men do that to women to right? anyway, u guys do it more often and a lot more brutally at that....sucks that by biology men are stronger physically then females....yes i do know there is violence against men as well, but my point is that the reason its a bigger deal for women, is that it happens to them more often.
check out the stats below.

92% of all domestic violence incidents, crimes are committed by men against women. Source: "Violence Against Women", Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice

coz women don't deserve to be abused

If you think this is unfair, then petition for a Violence Against Men Act and see how many will support you.

One of the things your question seems to overlook is whether the murder of the spouse was due to domestic violence overload. It is well documented (and I know from the experience of my sister) that women who are subjected to domestic violence have been bullied by the spouse and have little (if any) self worth as they have been so down trodden as to believe that they 'deserve' to be treated that way. In the case of my sister - she was used as a means of her husband taking out his guilt over his ex-wife's death in a road accident when she (his ex) was drunk and got run over. He believed that if he had not left her for my sister she would not have had that accident. Fortunately, as a family, we confronted him and did he get a shock that we did not cower to his tantrums - even though when I did it scared me....and when my parents did it scared them.
It is also well known that those who suffer domestic violence often are too frightened to try to leave the 'relationship' and, even if they do they often go back. They often have to leave five times before they do not go back.............the man 'sweet talks' and says they love the woman and that it'll never happen again.....but it does, more often than not.
My sister was lucky....he mended his ways but that was partly due to the fact that his job would have been at stake. I think he only realised that once she did get the courage to press charges and he had to go to court. Abusive relationships.......are about the abuser having control and fear plays a major role. Sometimes that fear is so intense that a murder is committed. Often times as a reaction to fear for their own life or those of any children caught in the middle.
You post suggests that you have no clear understanding that althought resources (like womens refuges) are available it is not so simple as to just say they should leave or get restraining orders etc. By the way, abusive partners often ignore such things as restraining orders.
The bigger picture is not as clear cut and straighforward as you seem to think.
That said, I would just like to add that it is not only women who are on the receiving end of abusive relationships although I suspect they form the majority.

I will agree with you all, that the majority of violence is against men, but the majority of it comes from another man not a woman.

The question is talking about a domestic violence case...not general violence.

To the Q: No just b/c she is abused does not give her the right to kill someone...unless it's in the case of true self defense. If she has the time to plot his death is not self defense.
B/c of all the programs and help she could have gotten, at the very least called the cops.

I can see by the several posts today that this Winkler case has you pretty upset. I can sympathize with how you're feeling. It doesn't feel good when people get away with hurting other people. Ever.

I just wish your passion could extend to all the cases where men have also gotten ridiculously light sentences for committing all kinds of monstrous acts against their partners. It feels to me like you're singling out just one case because it was a male victim and overlooking the hundreds of cases where this has happened previously.

I don't know all the details of the Winkler case so I really can't judge it. What I do know is that, for many victims of domestic violence, it can be more dangerous to try to leave than to stay. I'm certainly NOT excusing Mary Winkler's behavior; just trying to understand. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the details of that case. The fact is that a restraining order is JUST a piece of paper and shelters fill up quickly. There aren't as many remedies for leaving as one might think.

FYI - Many of the programs awarded VAWA funds use that money to fund programs and staff that also serve male victims of domestic violence.

Most the time these people go to jail anyhow. There was a recent story (about a year ago) where a serial rapist was put on the "poor you" podium because he was rapped by his brother when he was young. There was a little outrage because the person kidnapped, rapped, the beat to death 4 (?) girls all under 13. I would see the same thing here. There's no excuse for that. We are letting these horrible people get away with horrible things and in the end someone who can't think for them self will think this is normal and okay. Just ask the average 15 year old if it's okay to destroy their boyfriends truck if he cheats and that will prove my point.

The Violence Against Women Act was a feel good piece of legislation. It was already a crime to committ a act of violence against anyone male or female, stranger or acquaintance. It was passed with the help of the powerful women lobbying groups knowing full well that anyone who opposed it would be seen as anti-women or pro-violence against women. Much like hate-crime legislation, it has done little to stop women from being victims of violence.

Wait, I could've killed my ex-husband and become a happy widow. I didn't know that! I could have saved all that money I had to pay the lawyer. Now, you tell me!
C. :)