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Six Essays after Twenty Years of Research?

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It's amazing that the researchers at Wellesley College imply they have never heard of violent women.

All they need to do is to look at their most famous alumna, Hillary, who throws lamps and ashtrays at her husband.

Or they can search our website for reputable, valid research which says that women are more violent than men. Because women are not as strong, they are often unable to inflict as much damage, but many of them do.

Instead of talking about domestic violence in an intelligent manner in its article, Wellesley had an emotional, photographic display of annonymous women as though it were a surreal exhibit from the Art Department. These pictures were scattered throughout their article without captions.

We wrote about the Network for Battered Lesbians, a Boston organization, in our May 2002 issue.

They say that lesbians are just as dangerous as men: "The implication is that lesbian/bisexual women batterers are not so bad, that they're safe to be around, that they may even be indistinguishable from their battered partners. Again, this is a dangerous message to put out, because lesbian/bisexual women who batter do everything that heterosexual male batterers do, from subtle manipulation to murder, and are equally unsafe."

This group has been a mainstream part of the Boston women's movement since 1989 and is recommended by the state government on the Dept. of Revenue's website under "Domestic Violence."

Three men were killed in domestic disputes by women in 2001, while four women were killed by their husbands.

A total of 15 people were killed by what has been labeled "domestic violence." This compares with a total of about 125 persons who are murdered from all causes each year across the state.
One of the Boston groups that compiled the statistics, Peace at Home, which is supported by tax dollars, says that violence at home is committed by people who are violent everywhere, not just at home. Its founder and Executive Director, Stacey Kabat, says, "People who commit domestic violence are often violent in general. A past record or history of assault, fighting, or abuse is a sign that they think violence is a way to solve problems."

Earl Sholley of the Fatherhood Coalition agreed, "It has become absolutely clear that violence in the home is not a problem of violent men. There are just as many violent women as there are men, and we will never solve our problems until we realize that as a society."

Despite the tremendous concern these days about the use of guns, only two of the 15 people who killed their "partner" in 2001 used a gun to do so. Eight of them stabbed their victims with a knife and the other five beat or strangled the victim.

This caused observers to comment that violent people will not be stopped from their intent even if they have only their hands to commit the violence.

After twenty years of research with federal money, Wellesley College has given us six "essays" from six alumnae, which are meant to prove that it is always women who are treated violently.

The following is what the Center says they have gleaned from the twenty years.

"First, they [the essays] demonstrate that violence against women does not discriminate. It knows no socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, [sic] or religious bounds (nor any based on sexual orientation).

"Second, rape and sexual assault are not crimes perpetrated only in bad neighborhoods by strangers who jump out of dark alleyways to assault women walking alone late at night.

"Rape and sexual assault can be committed by people a victim knows, such as current or former husbands or boyfriends, or in broad daylight in a crowd, [sic] or by someone who breaches the security of one's home.

"Physical and sexual abuse in romantic relationships are almost always accompanied by emotional abuse, but the third lesson from these essays, coming most poignantly from the Member of the Class of 1978, is how devastating emotional abuse itself is. Like physical violence, it has serious psychological and physical health consequences for adult victims and for children living in the home. Similarly, several of these stories remind us that a physically abusive person can be dangerous to other people important to his or her partner, including his or her own children.

"Finally, these essays illustrate that coping with violence and its aftermath is a difficult, long-term process with no overnight, one-size-fits-all solution. If you know someone who has been hurt or continues to be in danger, victims often need time and nonjudgmental support while they sort out what they can do, what they are ready to do, [sic] and what it is safe to do. Decisions made at one point in time may yield to other choices later. The importance of respecting the victim's decisions, simply being there to listen, accompanying the person through difficult post-abused experiences, [sic] and offering basic material assistance or services cannot be underestimated. …

"We all owe our thanks to the brave women who have shared their stories and highlighted this important social issue."

The "Wellesley Centers for Women" have 28 researchers, most of whom are apparently paid by federal money. In addition, there are 13 people working in administration.

One of the authors, Vera E. Mouradian, became interested in domestic violence while working at a shelter. She has done nothing but that ever since. She received a Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 1997 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her dissertation research "examined the use of aggression against dating partners based on differences in beliefs about typical (and, therefore, possibly 'acceptable') motives or precursors for aggression, experiences with aggression in a person's family-of-origin, experiences as a victim of dating violence, and sex-role beliefs." In other words, she has been an integral member of this industry her entire adult life.

The other author, Linda Williams, joined the Wellesley Centers for Women as Director of Research for the Stone Center in 1996. Since that time, she says she has continued her examination of the resilience of women, children and families. She conducts research designed to understand and prevent the negative consequences of violence against women and children. She claims to have "directed research on violence for the past 28 years."