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The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Survives Yet Another Attack

The Feminist Majority—the advocacy arm of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which publishes Ms.—together with the National Network to End Domestic Violence and its then director, Donna Edwards, played a pivotal role in passing the original Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban at the heart of the Rahimi case, often referred to as “the Lautenberg Amendment,” after its sponsor, the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), in 1996. After passage, feminists stood firmly against all attempts to gut the law, like the 1997 and 1999 attempts to exempt police officers and military service personnel from its coverage (which both failed). 

“The law prevented countless tragedies,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. “It has saved the lives and harm of countless domestic violence survivors, most of whom are women.” Here’s to the feminist allies and advocates ensuring those days stay behind us.

In U.S. v. Rahimi, Domestic Violence Victims Live to Die Another Day

Friday morning, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that a law restricting firearms access for a narrow class of individuals subject to a specific kind of domestic violence restraining order does not violate the Second Amendment. The ruling is a “win” in much the same way the Court’s ruling in the mifepristone case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine earlier this month is a win: The Court did the “bare minimum” necessary to cling to the last vestiges of its legitimacy.

The threat posed by violent abusers like Zackey Rahimi might be temporarily disarmed today, but the threat posed by the Supreme Court’s patriarchal agenda remains a loaded weapon.

Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors Means Protecting Their Options

We can and must aspire to a future in which domestic violence survivors have options beyond the civil and criminal legal systems. But in the meantime, our government leaders must protect the options that do exist.

Those existing options are largely funded by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) which, since its inception in 1984, has supported survivors all over the country by funding services that assist with shelter and housing access, legal representation, counseling and more via the Crime Victims Fund. But with those funds declining over time, so has available VOCA funding. And while the U.S. Department of Justice is working on a solution to this problem, any action they take won’t restart that crucial funding flow to individual states for years.

Legislators Should Protect Domestic Violence Survivors Like Me

These words are being written from inside Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, Oklahoma. We are nearly one month into 2024 and I’m nearing the end of my 26th year of incarceration. Why are so many domestic violence survivors like me locked up in America? After all, I’m far from alone. 

For years, my ex-fiancé raped, choked, beat and stalked me. On numerous occasions, he even threatened to kill me and my son. People have asked me over the years, “Why didn’t you just leave?” How I wish it were that easy.

SCOTUS Will Decide Whether to Give Domestic Violence Abusers Access to Guns

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to consider the case of United States v. Rahimi, where the justices could strike down a longstanding, life-saving federal law that prohibits people subject to domestic violence protective orders from possessing firearms.

Imagine living with a violent, controlling partner, not knowing what you might face each time you enter your home. Imagine trying to protect yourself and your child in that situation, hang onto your job, and figure out how to get help. Imagine you reach out to a domestic violence program or the police get involved, eventually get legal representation and take the difficult step of showing up for a court proceeding that results in a domestic violence protective order requiring your abuser to stay away. And then imagine that they can nonetheless walk into a gun shop and purchase a firearm. How safe would you and your child be?

Bringing Domestic Violence Victims Back to Life

The first mass shooting of the modern era occurred in Austin, Texas, on Aug. 1, 1966. Before police killed him, Charles Whitman would be responsible for the murder of 17 and the wounding of 31. But the tower murders weren’t the beginning of the carnage.

The night before, while his mother and wife were sleeping, he had already stabbed them to death. Coverage of the campus massacre virtually eclipsed the women’s stories. But Unheard Witness: The Life and Death of Kathy Leissner Whitman, by Jo Scott-Coe, aims to change that.

Upcoming SCOTUS Case Exposes Domestic Violence Victims to New Risks

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The Supreme Court is set to rule on United States v. Rahimi this term, a case which will decide whether the government can continue to prevent alleged domestic abusers with a restraining order from possessing firearms. 

Those of us on the frontlines of this battle must speak now. We can’t control the outcome of this case, but we can point to the data and fight for the survivors who come through the doors of our hospitals and social service organizations. We can’t afford to stand on the sidelines and let victims down.

‘Hidden Horrors’: When it Comes to Domestic Violence, the Real Monsters Are Hiding in Plain Sight

A new campaign from Safe In Harm’s Way, DomesticShelters.org and Neon is exposing domestic violence abusers as master manipulators. Since domestic violence perpetrators don’t always fit the “wife-beater” mold, “Hidden Horrors” is calling attention to how most people have likely been deceived by an abuser at some point in their lives—especially if they haven’t experienced the abuse first-hand.

Ms. spoke with Caroline Markel Hammond, CEO of Safe In Harm’s Way, and Sam Lauro, group art supervisor at Neon, to discuss the campaign’s creative process, how to expose the real monsters hiding in plain sight, how to support survivors and how to navigate healing.

Texas Case Shows How Abortion Bans Facilitate Domestic Abuse

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Brittni Silva found out she was pregnant after filing for divorce from Marcus Silva in May of 2022.

Marcus recently sued his wife’s friends for helping her obtain an abortion. The man has a long history of coercive control—a type of domestic abuse that can include isolation, manipulation, monitoring, intimidation and verbal, legal, physical and sexual abuse. The Silva case illustrates how this state coercion adds another weapon to an abuser’s controlling arsenal.

Almost All Domestic Violence Is Preceded by Coercive Control. Proposed Massachusetts Laws Aim to Address the Crisis

Last year, there were 26 domestic violence-related homicides in Massachusetts—a more than 40 percent increase over the previous year. Survivors of domestic violence and their advocates are organizing across the state of Massachusetts to pass new laws like HD 1844 and SD 1975 to address the crisis of domestic violence, including coercive control.