California Teacher Fired For Being A Victim Of Domestic Abuse
thinkprogress.orgCalifornia teacher Carie Charlesworth was fired for the “crime” of being a victim of domestic violence, according to letters obtained by NBC San Diego. The firing was prompted by Charlesworth’s abusive ex-husband Martin Charlesworth, who invaded the Holy Trinity School parking lot after a weekend where Carie had called the police on him three times…
Martin was sent to prison, but Carie herself was also punished. On April 11th, the school sent a letter to her informing her of her dismissal. The grounds? Her husband was dangerous:
We know from the most recent incident involving you and Mrs. Wright (the principal) while you were still physically at Holy Trinity School, that the temporary restraining order in effect were not a deterrent to him. Although we understand he is current incarcerated, we have no way of knowing how long or short a time he will actually serve and we understand from court files that he may be released as early as next fall. In the interest of the safety of the students, faculty and parents at Holy Trinity School, we simply cannot allow you to return to work there, or, unfortunately, at any other school in the Diocese.
“This is the largest mass shooting in the United States where the shooters were still at large after the crime was committed. Think about that for a minute. From Columbine to Virginia Tech to Fort Hill to Aurora, all the shooters were either killed or apprehended on site. But the person or people responsible for shooting 19 Americans are still free. So why am I allowed to go outside? Where's the city quarantine or FBI and Homeland Security presence for this act of "terrorism"? Because this is an act of domestic terrorism right? Just because the alleged shooter was wearing a white tee and jeans does that suddenly make the shooting a gang-related affair? And we all know how irrelevant gang-related shootings are in America. The Mother's Day shooting is so irrelevant that politicians haven't even bothered to mention it to further their anti-gun agendas. If the shootings aren't even important enough for politicians to spin, then it's truly reached a black hole of irrelevance. Did I mention the shooter is still on the loose? I have? Just checking. Police have released photos and video of one of the suspects, but he is still at large. Now take a moment and imagine a Mother's Day Parade in the suburbs of Denver, a neighborhood in Edina or a plaza in Austin where bullets rain down on civilians and even hit children. I can't help but imagine the around-the-clock news coverage. And I can't help but think it's because most of America can identify with the fear of being bombarded with gunfire while just enjoying a parade in the middle of town. But America can't identify with being at a parade in the "inner city" where "gang violence" erupts. The "oh my God, that could happen to me" factor isn't present with a story about New Orleans or the Chicago southside. ”
—Why isn’t New Orleans Mother’s Day parade shooting a ‘national tragedy’?[rape/domestic violence]
I absolutely support people who are legitimately trying to bring attention and justice to male victims of things like rape or domestic violence, and I think it’s important to bring attention to it and work to fix the situation, but if you use male victims as merely a retort whenever somebody talks about female victims of those things, you’re disgusting, disrespectful to both groups of victims, and I hate you
I really, really fucking hate you
His Dad Beat His Mom. He Tried To Stop Him. But He Was Only 5. So He's Speaking Out Now.
upwr.mePatrick Stewart’s incredibly personal and powerful story about growing up with an abusive father.
PA City Punishes Domestic Violence Victims Who Call the Police
aclu.orgLast year in Norristown, Pa., Lakisha Briggs’ boyfriend physically assaulted her, and the police arrested him. But in a cruel turn of events, a police officer then told Ms. Briggs, “You are on three strikes. We’re gonna have your landlord evict you.”
Yes, that’s right. The police threatened Ms. Briggs with eviction because she had received their assistance for domestic violence. Under Norristown’s “disorderly behavior ordinance,” the city penalizes landlords and tenants when the police respond to three instances of “disorderly behavior” within a four-month period. The ordinance specifically includes “domestic disturbances” as disorderly behavior that triggers enforcement of the law.
After her first “strike,” Ms. Briggs was terrified of calling the police. She did not want to do anything to risk losing her home. So even when her now ex-boyfriend attacked her with a brick, she did not call. And later, when he stabbed her in the neck, she was still too afraid to reach out. But both times, someone else did call the police. Based on these “strikes,” the city pressured her landlord to evict. After a housing court refused to order an eviction, the city said it planned to condemn the property and forcibly remove Ms. Briggs from her home. The ACLU intervened, and the city did not carry out its threats, and even agreed to repeal the ordinance. But just two weeks later, Norristown quietly passed a virtually identical ordinance that imposes fines on landlords unless they evict tenants who obtain police assistance, including for domestic violence.
UK FOLLOWERS PLEASE READ
One of my followers (from SPN/Destiel fandom) is finally getting out of an extremely physically abusive and dangerous relationship; arrangements have been made for the police to remove her from the house next week. She has a long-term option, but she needs an interim place to stay for a few weeks where he would not know where she is. Anywhere in the UK is fine, and I can provide several people who would vouch for her character, but she DOES have a dog and you WOULD need to be able to accommodate the dog as well (anyone with experience with domestic abuse understands; threatening to kill pets is a huge way that abusers keep hold of their victims, and pets are a vital part of emotional support, so it’s very important that she not leave the dog behind).
If you know of a place she can stay free of charge, or if you would be willing to put her up yourself, please contact me, and I’ll put you in touch.
“When our breasts arrived as a kind of currency, we’d tug our camisoles low, use our newfangled bodies to haggle with the ice cream man. The winner was the girl who received her chocolate cone for free, who sucked on candy cigarettes the same way she wore a training bra. That summer my pockets grew forests of hand-tied maraschino cherry stems: tampered evidence that I might one day be worthy of kissing. In exchange for rides on the handlebars of their bikes, we’d let the boys bite the beads off our candy necklaces until the chokers resembled punched out teeth. From their slobber, blue and violet stained my throat where the sweetness had once been, so I suppose, Your Honor, I was preparing for him.”
—Megan Falley, “Beginning in an Ice Cream Truck and Ending in a Court Room (After Kim Addonizio)”
“Does your friend, your brother, your colleague insist that his girlfriend or wife is“batshit crazy”? Does she sound like a wild-eyed shrieking harpy who is totally ruining his life? I’ll tell you something: having the shit slapped out of you makes you a little crazy. Five weeks after I contacted his family to ask them to help him, I was in the hospital with a busted face. They hadn’t believed me because they’d been told I was crazy. I’m not, by the way, which I feel the need to say because trauma does all sorts of things to you, whether or not you ever get your face broken. But maybe if someone had started calling his bullshit years ago, he wouldn’t have ended up the way he is, and I would not have to rebuild my life and my sense of self. Try it. Next time some guy says “She’s crazy”, assume what he really means is, “I’m an enormous dickhead with no respect for women.”
—10 things you should do when confronted with violence against women | Cis Is Not A Dirty Word
“Every dozen or so seconds in the United States, a woman is beaten, assaulted, or strangled. Domestic violence is the top cause of injury for American women between the ages of 15 and 44. Many of these victims know their assaulter: Nearly 30 percent of all murdered women are killed by husbands, exes, or boyfriends. (Less than five percent of males are slain by wives, exes, or girlfriends.) You also know these women. One in four females will be the victim of domestic violence. She could be your mother, sister, friend, or co-worker, stuck in a controlling relationship in which her partner uses manipulation, humiliation, violence, and other means to maintain control over her. (Ninety percent of all victims are women and most of the perpetrators are male.) Most shockingly, domestic violence is so vastly underreported, you may never actually know. It wasn’t until the 1970s that many states finally agreed a wife could be raped by her husband. Until then, the law and conventional wisdom said a wife could not refuse her husband sex, or that once she’d given consent after the wedding day it couldn’t be retracted. Thanks in part to the women’s liberation movement, the law caught up with the reality of wives who were being assaulted by the very men they vowed to stay with through sickness and in health. What seems intuitive now—that a wife and husband each have equal legal power over their bodies—was an ideological nuclear bomb in the ’70s.”
—Escape by Natasha Gardner in 5280 Magazine
The single largest threat to women is men
