Description
Women's rights advocates in the United States have long argued that violence against women denies women equality and citizenship, but it took a movement of feminist activists and lawyers, beginning in the late 1960s, to set about realizing this vision and transforming domestic violence from a private problem into a public harm. This important book examines the pathbreaking legal process that has brought the pervasiveness and severity of domestic violence to public attention and has led the United States Congress, the Supreme Court, and the United Nations to address the problem.
Elizabeth Schneider has played a pioneering role in this process. From an insider's perspective she explores how claims of rights for battered women have emerged from feminist activism, and she assesses the possibilities and limitations of feminist legal advocacy to improve battered women's lives and transform law and culture. The book chronicles the struggle to incorporate feminist arguments into law, particularly in cases of battered women who kill their assailants and battered women who are mothers. With a broad perspective on feminist lawmaking as a vehicle of social change, Schneider examines subjects as wide-ranging as criminal prosecution of batterers, the civil rights remedy of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the O. J. Simpson trials, and a class on battered women and the law that she taught at Harvard Law School. Feminist lawmaking on woman abuse, Schneider argues, should reaffirm the historic vision of violence and gender equality that originally animated activist and legal work.
About the Author
Elizabeth M. Schneider, Rose L. Hoffer Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, is a leading expert on gender discrimination, violence against women, and the law.
Reviews
"This important book is 'must' reading for lawyers, political leaders, and medical and mental health professionals involved in responses to domestic violence. It demonstrates a rare combination of activist/lawyer savvy and theoretical curiosity and honesty." Martha Minow, Harvard Law School "A work of great depth and moment. Undoubtedly, it will impact the continued development of laws to protect and liberate battered women." Peter Glick, New York Law Journal "A penetrating study of domestic violence... matchless ability to bridge the worlds of theory and practice... We are lucky to have Elizabeth Schneider, and fortunate that she has made her work accessible to us in this admirable book." Mimi Wesson, Women's Review of Books "A groundbreaking account... a magisterial work. Scholars, practitioners, social service providers, judges, and lawmakers will find in this thought-provoking volume a wealth of information, making it essential reading for all who are interested in the subject." Julie Goldscheid and Mary McGowan Davis, Jurist's Books-on-Law
Book Information
ISBN 9780300094114
Author Elizabeth M. Schneider
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press
Weight(grams) 513g
Elizabeth Schneider has played a pioneering role in this process. From an insider's perspective she explores how claims of rights for battered women have emerged from feminist activism, and she assesses the possibilities and limitations of feminist legal advocacy to improve battered women's lives and transform law and culture. The book chronicles the struggle to incorporate feminist arguments into law, particularly in cases of battered women who kill their assailants and battered women who are mothers. With a broad perspective on feminist lawmaking as a vehicle of social change, Schneider examines subjects as wide-ranging as criminal prosecution of batterers, the civil rights remedy of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the O. J. Simpson trials, and a class on battered women and the law that she taught at Harvard Law School. Feminist lawmaking on woman abuse, Schneider argues, should reaffirm the historic vision of violence and gender equality that originally animated activist and legal work.
About the Author
Elizabeth M. Schneider, Rose L. Hoffer Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, is a leading expert on gender discrimination, violence against women, and the law.
Reviews
"This important book is 'must' reading for lawyers, political leaders, and medical and mental health professionals involved in responses to domestic violence. It demonstrates a rare combination of activist/lawyer savvy and theoretical curiosity and honesty." Martha Minow, Harvard Law School "A work of great depth and moment. Undoubtedly, it will impact the continued development of laws to protect and liberate battered women." Peter Glick, New York Law Journal "A penetrating study of domestic violence... matchless ability to bridge the worlds of theory and practice... We are lucky to have Elizabeth Schneider, and fortunate that she has made her work accessible to us in this admirable book." Mimi Wesson, Women's Review of Books "A groundbreaking account... a magisterial work. Scholars, practitioners, social service providers, judges, and lawmakers will find in this thought-provoking volume a wealth of information, making it essential reading for all who are interested in the subject." Julie Goldscheid and Mary McGowan Davis, Jurist's Books-on-Law
Book Information
ISBN 9780300094114
Author Elizabeth M. Schneider
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press
Weight(grams) 513g
