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4 Harv. Women's L.J. 161 (1981)
Defense Strategies for Battered Women Who Assault Their Mates: State v. Curry

handle is hein.journals/hwlj4 and id is 175 raw text is: DEFENSE STRATEGIES FOR BATTERED WOMEN WHO ASSAULT THEIR MATES: STATE V. CURRY JEFFERY ROBINSON* INTRODUCTION The use of violence against women is a subject that has been greatly underestimated and misunderstood by the public and the legal community in this country.' Recent studies indicate that as many as 70% of all women in this country, regardless of race, religion, or economic status, will experience some form of violent abuse from their husband or lover.2 The problem is not isolated to one segment of society; it permeates the general category of relationships between men and women. The problem is made more difficult by the socialized perceptions of a woman's proper role in life which dominate opinion in this country.3 These perceptions often may serve to obscure the true nature and causes of violence against women. In some instances a man and woman become involved in a relationship which depends on the use of violence against the woman as the major basis for interaction. The relationship is characterized by a pattern of violent invasions of the personal boundaries of the woman by the man. The woman cannot prevent these invasions, and therefore has to submit to a great deal of control and abuse. When the violence in a relationship reaches this level, the relationship can be characterized as a battering relation ship .4 The violent nature of the battering relationship and its effects on the abused woman can have legal significance in that often the violence will escalate to the point where police intervention is necessary. In 1976 the superintendent of the women's center of the Cook County (Chicago) jail stated that 40% of all women held on homicide charges that year had been repeatedly battered by the men they were charged with killing.5 When an *Third-year student, Harvard Law School. The author worked for the Seattle Public Defender Office during the summer of 1980 and assisted in the trial of State v. Curry. 1. See generally S. BROWNMILLER, AGAINST OUR WILL (1975); L. WALKER, THE BATTERED VOMAN (1979). 2. L. WALKER, supra note, at 19-20; R. LANGLEY & R. LEVY, WIFE BEATING (1977). 3. L. WALKER, supra note 1, at 18-40. 4. Id. at xiv-xv. 5. Chicago Tribune, Dec. 19, 1977, § 1, at 3, col. 1, (quoted in Sacco, Wife Abuse: The Failure of Legal Remedies, J. MAR. J. OF PRAC. AND PROC. 556 (1978)).

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