Blogging across my curriculum as a returning student. :)

     Yesterday a man became disgruntled when his wife failed to serve his eggs the way that
he liked them.  This wouldn’t have been newsworthy if he hadn’t shot and killed her, four other people, and himself in his resulting rage. story here  The sheer shock-value was enough to propel the story coast-to-coast in hours.  People are killed daily in the U.S., but seldom over cold eggs.  The media has learned that the U.S. audience requires an ever-increasing daily dose of the bizarre. The idea that someone could become so enraged over how his eggs were prepared that he would turn a shotgun on family, neighbors and himself must be bizarre enough, if only because domestic violence is so seldom covered by the press.   The story raises questions about our society, and the role and responsibility that our social institutions have in creating an environment that fosters or discourages violence.

      This was not an isolated incident of derangement, but the fruit of a larger problem.  West’s Encyclopedia of Law defines domestic violence as “Violence toward or physical abuse of one’s spouse or domestic partner.” According to the Silent Witness National Initiative, “Thirty-four percent of the women homicide victims over age 15 are killed by their husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends.”  That hardly makes this an isolated instance as murders go.

     While domestic violence doesn’t always result in death, it is so common that “1 in 5 women, and 1 in 14.29 men will report being victims of domestic violence.”according to a report prepared for the World Health Organization.  Those numbers aren’t just survey results.  They are low compared to the estimate that nearly 25% of women will be raped or abused by their spouses in their lifetime, the horrific reality that “approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States”, and the awful truth that “Of females killed with a firearm, almost two-thirds were killed by their intimate partners”. statistics  Domestic violence is such a widespread problem you would expect it to be a more prominent issue in politics, but it isn’t, and that is a problem in itself.

      Cultural norms contribute to domestic violence.  The roles of women as domestic servants, cooks and caretakers seem antiquated in modern U.S. culture, until instances like this arise to remind us that the reason they are less common today is because they can be harmful, dangerous, or even deadly.  In Causes of Domestic Violence, on page 8 of the Innocenti Project, The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), describes factors that contribute to domestic violence and perpetuate it.  Among these are “Cultural definitions of appropriate sex roles”, “Expectations of roles within relationships.”, “Belief in the inherent superiority of males.”, and the “Notion of the family as the private sphere and under male control.”  While many wives may choose to cook for their husbands, the more disturbing idea is that some perceived lack in that service could set this man, or others, into a violent, killing, rage.

      The UNICEF report goes on to describe the role that political trends play in fostering social environments that contribute to domestic violence.  Among these are “Under-representation of women in power, politics, the media and in the legal and medical professions.”  Speaking to this very issue, The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce met in February of this year to address the role of women in politics, particularly the less than flattering ranking of Kentucky as “45th in the nation for women in elected office overall, and 45th for the number of women in the state legislature.” read more The political environment in Kentucky is so toxic to women that a search at non-partisan Votesmart.org yielded no information on the political views or platforms of either major 2010 Senate candidate with regard to women’s issues, and with less than two months remaining until the election, the National Organization for Women (NOW), a normally powerful political advocacy group, has failed to
endorse a candidate.  Coincidentally, another of the political factors that UNICEF points out as contributing to domestic violence is “Limited organization of women as a political force”.

      Kentucky is on the front line of the political and cultural contest that puts domestic violence on the back burner in the U.S.  Interestingly, “Domestic violence not taken seriously” is also on the UNICEF list of factors that contribute to domestic violence. Under two Republican Senators, and mostly Republican Representatives, the State Police reported that domestic violence shelters served 3,986, but was unable to provide housing for 3,070 others. Was the victim one of those?  As the report points out “A woman and her children may come to a domestic violence program facility several times over the course of a year, but these figures only reflect the first time they enter a facility, or receive non-residential services.”  The facilities served an additonal 23,238 people coping with or fleeing domestic violence with guidance and counseling.  It is not clear if the killer’s violent past included domestic violence, or if the victim sought help, but it is clear that the services are not adequate in Kentucky to meet the need if over 3,000 victims in need of help were unable to escape a violent situation.  Public services such as those that serve victims of domestic violence are, like most public services, not as popular with Republican legislators on either the state or federal level.   Guns are popular with the Republican party in general, and while it may or may not be helpful for more women to carry them, this man with a known history of violent behavior was obviously a bad risk. These deaths should come as no surprise to those who have failed to legislate in the interest of the most vulnerable segments of the population because “Access to firearms yields a more than five-fold increase in risk of intimate partner homicide. statistics

      Rand Paul, the eye surgeon and Republican nominee for Senate in Kentucky, may be better known for his comment to the unemployed, “quit whining”, and for questions surrounding his board-certification, than for any position regarding women’s rights or issues.   He is known, however, for his strong association with the Tea Party movement, and with ultra-conservative values.   Fortunately, the women of Kentucky have taken note, and have shown a growing disdain for Rand Paul and his throw-back rhetoric to 1950’s America, which was no idealized surf party for most U.S. women. The Democratic nominee, Jack Conway, in contrast, has supported legislation that would make preventive health screenings and care available to women through their health coverage at no cost, but is considered to be generally conservative on most other issues.   Still, you take what you can get.  While Conway would seem the better choice for women, Kentucky is a traditionally Republican state, as you can see from the map here.  Hopefully the women will muster the voter registration and turn out to vote in November.

      Mount Carmel, Kentucky, experienced a tragedy of domestic violence today.   While that may be a shock for this small town, Kentucky is obviously no stranger to domestic violence, even if their legislators have not met the challenge.   Across this country, every day, other families are experiencing the tragedy of domestic violence daily.  The national cultural and political environment can not be separated from the consequences to individual lives.   That environment of increasingly harsh political action and rhetoric contributes directly to poverty and violence against women and children in Kentucky and nationwide.   Those political and media platforms that will not yield on issues like gun control, on issues like women’s rights, on social services, and that continue to falsely market themselves as protective of “family values”, and “traditional values”, are parties to the deaths in Kentucky and elsewhere.   When the Kentucky families bury their dead it would be in their best interests to bury their affinity for what they formerly knew as the Republican party as well.   In the upcoming November election domestic violence can not be separated from the social and political environment in which it thrives.  Those who care about the lives lost in Kentucky today, and the future of women and girls in this country, should consider their votes carefully this November.