LIft Up the Curtain on Domestic Violence

To learn about the history of how the US legal system has handled violence in marriage, I recommend a great journal article written by Reva B. Siegael, "'The Rule of Love': Wife Beating as Prerogative and Privacy," Yale Law Journal, 106 (June 1996), pp. 2117-2207.
http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/vawa/prologue.htm#endII

An interesting piece of NC history relates to how wife beating came to be viewed as a private matter - one not to be handled in the court system. In a case that went before the NC Supreme Court in the late 1800s, the court ruled that a wife could not take out criminal charges if her husband beat her. This is a quote from the opinion of the NC Supreme Court offering a reason for why a husband should not be criminally charged for beating his wife: "'it is better to draw the curtain, shut out the public gaze, and leave the parties to forget and forgive.'" (citation is in The Rule of Love)

So, here we are in 2008, well over 100 years later, still trying to lift the curtain up on domestic violence. Domestic violence does belong in the public gaze. In the public gaze, we can remove the secrecy and offer victims the support and safety that they need and we can hold abusers accountable for their violent behavior.

Do your part to lift the curtain on domestic violence. I'm off to Nash County to do my part!