Tag: Marriage

‘Hysterical’ Women Out for Revenge: Family Court’s Misogynistic Tropes Traumatize Women and Children

The misogynist trope of the “hysterical woman out for revenge” is used quite effectively by coercive controlling abusers—and, as a result, some women lose custody of their children and are financially ruined.

“It’s more comfortable to accept the explanation that women are crazy, rather than that many men are violent,” said attorney Suzanne Zaccour, director of legal affairs at the National Association of Women in the Law in Ottawa.

But the tide is turning, as notable cases like Catherine Kassenoff’s emerge, highlighting institutional gender bias in family courts.

The Violence Against Women Act Turns 29. There’s More Work to Do.

Twenty-nine years ago, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), finally putting the full force of our federal government into efforts to stop domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking to help survivors. VAWA was transformative. In the years after it was enacted, domestic violence against adult women in the United States declined by more than 60 percent.

The pandemic set us back, and there’s much more work to do. We will keep working to improve VAWA, and to support the Biden administration’s National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action, a truly groundbreaking whole-of-government approach to addressing and preventing violence of all kinds. 

California Court Grants Restraining Order Based on Coercive Control

In September 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed one of the country’s first laws explicitly prohibiting coercive control in intimate partner relationships. On Aug. 10, Vanessa A. Zecher—a judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County— entered a permanent restraining order against a man for coercive control domestic abuse. With campaigns for similar laws moving forward in several states, the case gives advocates concrete evidence of how coercive control laws are critical for freeing survivors from the grasp of abusive partners.

“This case is one of the first cases in the United States where coercive control was considered domestic violence in the absence of physical abuse,” said Lisa Fontes, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an expert on coercive control.

“I hope this case gives other victims hope that there is a pathway out,” said the wife’s attorney, Rebekah Frye. “I hope they will recognize that what they may think in their head or heart is normal—that they will realize it’s not. And then hopefully at some point in time, if they choose to leave, there will be a court, an attorney, a professional out there that will help them get out.”

A Timeline of Horror: 100+ Taliban Edicts, Orders and Directives Denying Afghan Women and Girls Their Human Rights and Existence

The Taliban has issued over 100 edicts stripping Afghan women and girls of their most basic human rights and opportunities, effectively putting them under house arrest.

The timeline we’ve assembled here encompasses all the edicts and orders that impact women and girls, often addressing issues related to human rights, media freedom and movement restrictions.

Healing From an Abusive Relationship: The Ms. Q&A With Psychotherapist Amira Martin

Psychotherapist Amira Martin knew that it made sense to move slowly when starting a new relationship, but after a whirlwind romance, she married a man she’d known for less than a year. After all, the courtship had been perfect—indeed, the man himself appeared perfect—and however improbable, Martin believed that she had found her soul mate.

She hadn’t.

Amira Martin spoke with Ms. about her marriage, its dissolution, and what she learned from it.

A New Alimony Law Makes Florida Even Less Safe for Women

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new law ending permanent alimony sends the message that in order to be eligible for any financial support after marriage—whether that is support in service of eventual independence, or compensation for years spent supporting the other spouses’ career—women must choose to stay single. And, it gives their exes permission to monitor their behavior. 

It’s not surprising that a governor who has been gleefully taking away women’s autonomy would sign this law. Women continue to have fewer and fewer choices in Florida. 

The Incarcerated Woman Who Wishes #MeToo Had Arrived Earlier

Celeste Blair landed in prison after a series of abusive relationships. She hopes the #MeToo movement saves younger women from a similar fate.

“They literally degraded me to the point that I felt like I was a convict and nothing more. … I’m hoping my granddaughter and my nieces are living in this new world where a girl has a lot more say.”

Experts Say Catherine Kassenoff’s Family Court Case Should Alarm America

Dr. Bandy Lee—who warned the country about Donald Trump—calls the family court system another threat to our democracy.

Lee had been in touch with Catherine Kassenoff, the New York mother and attorney ended her life through assisted suicide over Memorial Day Weekend because she couldn’t fight for custody of her daughters any longer. “What family courts have enabled is the ability of abusers—through the accusation that the other parent is alienating them from their children—to reverse the victim and offender,” Lee said. “It is an abuser’s dream come true to be labeled the good one and to accuse their victims of their own guilt and own crimes—and also to call the healthy person mentally ill.” 

Allan Kassenoff Resigns After Public Outcry Over Wife Catherine’s Apparent Suicide

Since news of New York attorney and mother Catherine Kassenoff’s reported assisted suicide in Switzerland, her husband’s former employer—the law firm Greenberg Traurig—has been in the hot seat. Late Sunday night, the law firm released a statement announcing Allan Kassenoff’s resignation. In her goodbye letter, Catherine singled out the firm as one of the ways her husband allegedly dominated their court case: “The more I fought to show these materials to the public and to the Courts, the more I was punished for daring to make such accusations against a rich, white man and Greenberg Traurig shareholder.”

Many of Catherine’s supporters applauded the decision, but the victory is bittersweet. “It is sad, but no one helps us while we are alive,” said Elizabeth Harding Weinstein, Catherine’s friend and a court reform advocate.

War on Women: Arson at Abortion Clinics Is up 100 Percent; Trump Is Guilty of Sexual Abuse and Defamation; Republicans Try to End No-Fault Divorce

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This month: Jane’s Due Process is now providing travel funding for Texas teens accessing abortion; states continue to face anti-LGBTQ legislative attacks; Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll; Indiana’s medical licensing board fined Dr. Caitlin Bernard; and more.