Panelists Discuss Violence

About 30 women gathered last night in Agassiz House to hear a noted author and an incest survivor speak in a seminar addressing the problem of domestic violence.

The Women's Health Seminar featured Angela Browne, Ph.D., author of When Battered Women Kill. Joining Browne on the panel were incest and child pornography survivor Claudia Martinez, who graduates this year from the Harvard Divinity School, and Linda Frazier, R.N., a health educator at the University Health Services.

Browne focused on many of the problems which battered women face both in the past and today.

"Abuse by male partners accounts for more injuries to women than any other single cause," Browne said, estimating that four million American women are victims of such abuse.

Until the mid-1970s, a man's assault on his wife was considered only a misdemeanor unless he could be convicted of attempted murder, Browne said. Restraining orders were not available for abused wives, and marital rape was not considered a crime.

And if a woman killed her husband in self-defense, she could not enter that plea in court, Browne said.

New legislation today has improved the situation somewhat but not enough, Browne said.

While the incidence of women killing their male partners has decreased 25 percent since the legislation was enacted, there has been no corresponding drop in the number of men killing their female partners, she said.

According to Browne, the problem is still growing. Fifty-two percent of female homicide victims in the early 1980s were killed by their male partners, and the numbers are rising, she said.

Battered wives are often reluctant to leave their husbands for fear that they and their children will be forced to live in slums or on the streets, according to Brown.

"If women take their husbands to court, they face the' so damn bad' effect. They are asked, "Why didn't you just leave if it was so damn bad?" Browne said.

The result is a vicious cycle that many women find hard to break, Browne said.

Browne was followed by Martinez, and incest victim who discussed her personal experiences and healing process. She said her past has given her an empathy for others and a unique perspective on life.

"Incest colors every thought and perception I have today," Martinez said. She encouraged other victims to recognize their pasts and to start to cope with them.

Frazier completed the panel of women, speaking on the different resources available to assault victims at Harvard.