Domestic Violence

04/24/2013

Shut Up or Get Out: PA City Punishes Domestic Violence Victims Who Call the Police

By Sandra Park, ACLU at 3:24pm

Last year in Norristown, Pa., Lakisha Briggs' boyfriend physically assaulted her, and the police arrested him. But in a cruel turn of events...

08/17/2011

Domestic Violence

Make My Case Count!

By Jessica Lenahan at 3:45pm

My name is Jessica Lenahan and I am a survivor of domestic violence and an advocate for battered women and children. Six years ago, I turned to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an international tribunal responsible for promoting and protecting human rights throughout the Americas, because the justice system in the United States had abandoned me. Today, IACHR issued a landmark decision in my case that found that the United States violated my human rights and those of my three children, Rebecca, Katheryn, and Leslie.

03/01/2013

Women's History Month

Women’s History Month: We’ve Come So Far, We Have So Far to Go

By Emily Carter, Women's Rights Project, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:31pm

Today is March 1st – the start of Women’s History Month, which is dedicated to honoring women throughout history who have taken part in the movement to advance women’s rights. Over the years, women have fought tirelessly against discrimination to break down the social and economic barriers to gender equality.

While this month is a time to celebrate and reflect, it is also important to recognize that much work remains to be done. In 2013, women are still not treated equally in the workplace or in society. It has been nearly two decades since the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 was enacted, yet violence against women remains a grave threat. It has been 35 years since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 was enacted, yet pregnant women are still being pushed out of the workplace by their employers. It has been 50 years since the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, yet the gender pay gap still exists.

02/29/2012

Sexual Assault in the Military

Exposing the Ugly Details of the Military Sexual Violence Epidemic

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project & Rachel Natelson, Service Woman's Action Network at 5:08pm

On Monday, a federal court judge heard oral arguments in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case brought by the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN) and the ACLU seeking records from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs regarding their response to sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence in the military. While the hearing has yet to yield a final ruling, one point was clear: the government continues to refuse to disclose documents that could reveal the human toll of military sexual and domestic violence.

06/19/2012

Puerto Rico

ACLU Releases New Report on Widespread Police Brutality in Puerto Rico

By Ateqah Khaki at 10:18am

The ACLU today released a report that finds the Puerto Rico Police Department -- the second-largest police department in the U.S. -- is plagued by a culture of unrestrained abuse and brutality. The use of excessive or lethal force is routine among the 17,000 officer-department. In recent years, civil and human rights violations have resulted in the unjustifiable loss of civilians’ lives, and severe and lasting injuries.

03/08/2013

Women's History Month

Bring Women's Human Rights Home

By Lenora M. Lapidus, Women's Rights Project at 10:13am

On this International Women's Day, March 8, we call on the United States government to apply the same human rights principles it preaches for women elsewhere around the world, to women here at home. We are currently in the middle of the two-week United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This year's 57th CSW focuses on elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. On Tuesday, the ACLU was invited to take part in an interactive discussion with a panel of world experts. The United States participated in the discussion as well.

04/02/2012

Sexual Assault in the Military

Note to Military: Sexual Assault Includes Rape

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 5:59pm

The government has turned a blind eye to these crimes has allowed them to continue, imperiling the lives of victims and degrading their service.

11/27/2012

Domestic Violence

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – Fulfilling Our Promise to Say “No” to Violence

By Ramya Sekaran, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 5:23pm

Last Sunday, November 25, the international community observed the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Women's rights activists have marked this as a day against violence since 1981, in memory of the Mirabal sisters, political activists who were brutally assassinated in 1960 on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo. Many advances have been made in the fight for gender equality since the first International Day, but many more challenges persist.

10/24/2011

Domestic Violence

Stop Domestic Violence in Its Tracks

By Katherine Clemente, Women's Rights Project at 6:04pm

It is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time when many of us ask: what can we do about the injustice of intimate partner abuse? More than 10 years ago, Jessica Lenahan faced just that question when the police failed to respond to her pleas for help, resulting in the deaths of her three children. Following that tragedy, she took the issue of police response to domestic violence to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that she had no constitutional right to enforcement of her restraining order, and then to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

08/26/2011

Domestic Violence

Creating a Safe Space in the Most Obvious Place: At Home

By Alicia Gay, ACLU at 12:02pm

This post is part of Mom's Rising's Blog Carnival on women's health and economic rights, held this week to commemorate the anniversaries of the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment and the 1963 March on Washington.

As a little girl from Kansas once said, “there’s no place like home,” and she was right. All of us may have a different notion of what “home” is, but ultimately we can agree home should be a place where we can feel comfortable and safe. Unfortunately for too many people who have experienced domestic violence, home isn’t safe. It is also regrettable that in many cases law enforcement officials, and in some cases our own government, have failed in their duty to protect the most vulnerable among us.

American Civil Liberties Union