Softening the blows

Under English common law — on which most U.S. laws are historically based — it was permissible for a man to beat his wife, as long as the stick he used was no thicker than his thumb. Hence the contemporary saying, "Rule of thumb."

Not until 1883 was wife beating banned in the United States.

And until 1985, it was legal for a man to rape his wife, noted Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women’s Law Project and co-chair of the city’s newly formed Domestic Violence Task Force.

Centuries later, the specter of domestic violence looms large behind closed doors across the country.

In Philadelphia, the statistics are alarming. From January through July, 82,427 domestic violence calls to 911 were logged. In more than 47,000 reported incidents, police have returned to the same location at least twice; of the 10,715 crimes coded "domestic," the majority were aggravated assaults; and more than 14,000 protection-from-abuse petitions were filed in Family Court.

Additionally, 21 homicides and three murder-suicides in that six-month span were attributed to domestic violence.

"Think of it," Tracy said: "In three months’ time, three murder-suicides. That’s pretty significant. We’ve got to remind the public about how serious domestic violence is."

That reminder came last week when Mayor Street announced the appointment of the city’s Domestic Violence Task Force, headed by Tracy and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.

For two decades, Tracy has defended and protected the rights of women through the Women’s Law Project. Recently, she led an advocacy campaign to improve police practices involving the investigation of sex crimes. Her work with local police and city officials resulted in significant changes in law-enforcement and victim services.

"It’s pretty exciting but it’s also daunting," Tracy said of her new co-chair position. "I was honored that [Street] appointed me co-chair in part because of the constructive relationship we’ve had with the police. It started out pretty adversarial, but it turned into a very constructive and effective partnership."


The task force exists to develop and implement a coordinated community response to domestic violence in the city, the mayor said. To this end, Street appointed a 43-member diverse group comprised of senior governmental officers and a cross-section of agencies that work in the domestic violence fields.

Among them are District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, Deputy Police Commissioner Patricia Fox and Health Commissioner John Domzalski, along with representatives from Women in Transition, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Women Organized Against Rape, Women Against Abuse and Lutheran Settlement House’s women’s programs. Two agencies that offer counseling services for men who batter — Menenergy and The Men’s Resources Center — are also part of the force.

The Domestic Violence Task Force was born out of City Council hearings in the spring. Tracy requested the hearings after she noticed an upsurge in domestic violence homicides. The hearings brought attention to the plight of women, families and children whose lives are being eroded by violence, she said.

Women’s Law Project queried city and human services agencies about what they were seeing in terms of domestic violence cases and what resources were available to them. Gathering data was the sole purpose of the hearings, Tracy explained.

When it came time for someone with firsthand knowledge of domestic abuse to testify, Tracy knew just the person — a former battered woman and one of the leading advocates against domestic abuse, Barbara Pittman.

The former Southwest Philly resident counsels abuse victims and has testified before the U.S. Senate to promote the Domestic Violence Treatment and Screening Act. Last month, Pittman founded Alexa’s Friends, the first after-school and safe house for children of domestic violence. A South Philly church donated basement space for the program.

At the Council hearings, Pittman championed the need for more battered women’s shelters in the city and better healthcare for victims of abuse. She also proposed a 24-hour abuse hotline, which has become the cornerstone of the Domestic Violence Task Force.

Under the proposal, a victim could call the hotline any day and receive referrals for all the services she would need — from counseling to finding a shelter and medical care.

"By making one phone call and speaking to a live person, a woman can get all the services she needs instead of calling 10 different agencies," Pittman reasoned.

The advocate’s goal is to staff the hotline with former battered women.

"I’m really excited [about the task force] because I feel that I always can make a difference with one woman at a time," said Pittman. "But to think that I can empower a whole group of people at one time is unbelievable for me. I can speak my mind and say what we need and be heard through this task force.

"For them to consider me — an ordinary person and a formerly battered woman — it’s very humbling and exciting," she added. "I’m excited about the impact that I can make on other women."


Engaging the community at a grassroots level is key to eradicating the scourge of domestic violence, Tracy believes. Everyone, including ordinary citizens, must become involved in the campaign to end the abuse, she said.

One of the many things the Domestic Violence Task Force co-chair would like to see is more services tailored to men who batter. Presently, Menenergy and The Men’s Resource Council are the only programs offered in the city for perpetrators.

"There are men who believe they have a sense of ownership over their wives," said Tracy, "that they have a right to punish them — even in 2003." Such beliefs are often linked to certain cultures, she added.

Also, it might surprise most people to know that men number among the victims of domestic abuse, though the vast majority of sufferers are women,Tracy said.

"Studies show that women hit men, but men don’t wind up in the emergency room," she noted.

"Domestic terrorism, as many people call it now, is almost exclusively perpetrated by men against women and their kids," said Tracy. "In many ways, I feel the task force is the beginning of a major campaign to end domestic violence."


Domestic Violence Statistics
for South Police Division
January through July 31, 2003

First District Third District Fourth District 17th District
Murder 0 0 0 0
Aggravated Assault 23 13 26 70
Simple Assault 99 23 93 180
Disturbances 1,204 479 1,194 2,382

Figures are from the Philadelphia Police Department Research and Planning Bureau Statistical Unit.