Understanding battered woman’s syndrome

In the first case, 38-year-old Hilary Narine was freed of murder and placed on a bond after she told the court she had stabbed her husband to death because he had abused her throughout their marriage.

The other matter involved Cecelia Bedeau, 42, a Point Fortin housewife who was deemed by a psychiatrist to be suffering from BWS. Bedeau stabbed her husband to death, burned his body and buried it at the back of their home.

Domestic violence is a widespread problem in this country. Most times we hear of cases where women are killed or maimed by abusive spouses or boyfriends. Less common is the situation, brought to the fore in these two court matters, where women accused of murder have claimed to be victims of this syndrome.

To better understand the condition, I did some research this week to try and come up with a definition of BWS. I came across a paper by Lori Rubenstein, an attorney in the United States, who said it was important, first of all, to understand how someone becomes a battered woman.

Citing the work of one of the most prominent experts on battered women, Dr Lenore E Walker, Rubenstein pointed out that a woman must experience at least two complete battering cycles before she can be labelled a battered woman.

There is the tension-building phase, followed by the explosion or acute battering incident, culminating in a calm, loving period which is commonly referred to as a honeymoon phase.

According to Rubenstein, battered woman’s syndrome describes “a pattern of psychological and behavioural symptoms found in women living in battering relationship”. There are four general characteristics:

— The woman believes the violence was her fault.

— The woman has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere.

— The woman fears for her life and/or her children’s lives.

— The woman has an irrational belief that the abuser is omnipresent or omniscient.

Experts define BWS as a subgroup of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, rather than a mental illness. Many battered women speak of the “fog” they existed in while living with their abusers, a dangerous state of apathy which can end in murder.

According to another expert on BWS, Ann Veilleux, most victims get caught up in the cycles of abuse from childhood. A woman who was mistreated as a child is more likely to pick partners capable of similar abuse.

Veilleux offers this stirring argument for a better understanding of BWS and how it should be dealt with: “Women that stay with abusive partners very often have had abusive parents. To them it’s normal to get hurt by the people you love. Their self esteem is very low from childhood mistreatment and is further undermined by violence from their partners.

“No wonder women can’t give a good reason for why they stay. It would take therapy (and education) to understand it themselves. If they had good therapy, they could learn that they didn’t cause or deserve the abuse. Then they would leave.

“The injustice of abuse is all the more destructive when society punishes the victim through ignorance. The more of us who understand the complex effects of abuse, the less tolerance there will be for this behaviour in our communities.

“People who have been wrong to the point of taking out their rage on others can be treated and helped to have useful lives.”

As far as I am aware, BWS is relatively virgin territory for TT’s judicial system but it is a situation that needs to be properly understood.

We can’t continually be groping around in the dark, trying to come up with a quick and convenient way to deal with this matter. Lives are being lost while we struggle to come to terms with this problem, particularly at the level of law enforcement and the judiciary.

(ssheppard@newsday.co.tt).