A beloved member of the PUMA family, Betty Jean Kling, has suffered a terrible tragedy. Her two daughters are clinging to life today. One daughter (Denise) is critically ill with cancer, and the other (Louisa) was shot in the face by Denise’s abusive husband. It’s a shocking and tragic thing that has happened to Betty Jean and her family, and we all send her our thoughts and prayers and hope that she has the strength to get through this terrible time.
One of the most upsetting things about what happened is that prior to coming to her home and trying to kill her, Denise’s husband, knowing she was trying to divorce him and leave him for good, had attacked her with a hammer. He had hit her in the head with it. For this attempted murder, did he get 5 years? 10 years? 15 years in jail?
No. He got three months.
He hit his wife in the head with a HAMMER and got THREE MONTHS IN JAIL.
What if this man had hit a man in the head with a hammer? Do we have any reservations about saying that the sentence would have been much harsher if the judge had not seen this crime through the filter of “domestic violence?”
Are women people in America? Or are they chattel, property of their husbands?
The next time you see a tragedy that has happened to a woman, I hope you will do this mental exercise and think, “What if it were a man?”
I know I will.
Oooh, nuance! 
“Are women people in America? Or are they chattel, property of their husbands?”
It is unspoken in our society that we (and children) are still property of our fathers, brothers, and husbands.
I am so sick to death of all the lipservice being paid to women and then these atrocities continue. How many bodies of missing women and children will have to be found before people stop seeing women thru the filter of “they aren’t worth as much” just like property?
I personally have lost all hope that things will ever change; I just try to do something every day that says “I am not less of a person because of my body parts and hormones”.
I think Louisa is the sister-in-law. She was there to defend her sister, Denise, who was once married to that disgusting brute, Hartwig. Denise was the one who he had previously attacked with a hammer in an effort to get her pain medications.
You are right, PracticalMagic! I will fix it.
One point that isn’t being brought up in the discussions around the net on this topic is that women who defend themselves by ending the lives of the abusive husbands and boyfriends generally get 25 years to life.
Knowing when it is safe to leave is quite challenging for the women. My abusive ex-husband tried twice to cause an “accident” that he didn’t think could be tied back to him. I don’t know why he calmed down for the next 15 years, but he did. Then he revived his fury when he finally remarried and none of us cared.
There’s nothing about abuse that should be ignored. The bruises were fast to heal, but I’m still working on my recovery from the mental abuse.