abused woman jailed
By winterose
@winterose (39887)
Canada
April 13, 2008 2:52am CST
Here in Canada there is a case where a pregnant woman called the police to report that she was beaten up by her boyfriend. When it was time to file a report and testify she changed her story and refused to testify against the abuser.
She is being held in prison until the court date in order to testify.
Do you think this is fair, is it ethical, can the authorities keep someone in prison just because they do not want to testify against their abuser?
the government's position is that they want to get these guys behind bars, they get away with it far too often,
women's rights groups are saying it is keeping women against their wills and they are victimized yet again,
all this tactic will do is to stop abused woman from ever calling the police and it will be even worse on them than before.
what do you think?
9 people like this
23 responses
@tyc415 (5706)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I find it horrible that they would put this woman behind bars. If anything put her in a safe house for abused women. There are too many abused women (and men) who are too afraid to testify against the abuser in fear of it getting worse for them and how many times have we all heard "But I love him/her". but I see no reasoning about putting them in jail to sit and wait for the trial.
3 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
this is just awful, I am ashamed of my government for even thinking this is a fair and just decision
1 person likes this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
13 Apr 08
Although I would like nothing more than to see these abusive men put behind bars, I have to say that forcing someone to testify is definately not the way to go about it. It is not fair to hold her against her will like that she should have the right to change her mind if she so wishes, even though I think she is mad to change her mind. I think it will stop people from coming forward and saying that they have been abused because they will be scared of this happening to them.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
yep I agree it is the strangest case, and I don't think anything like this has every happened before. Women will be afraid to call the police if this keeps up. It is like a police state.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
25 Apr 08
You are correct in saying that alot of women would stop reporting it afraid they may be jailed especially if they have had time to cool their tempers down or feel regretful baout doing so. But Something does need to be done about abusers but not at the cost of the victims time. What if this person worked and their employer didn't like the idea that they spent time in jail no matter what the cause or reason and this person got fired for it? I think it could cause even more abuse not to be reported.
2 people like this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
3 May 08
Well that is way better then the woman getting jailed. And with the authorities maybe the allegations might stick better.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
1 May 08
Yes I totally agree with you, holding women against their will is not an answer to the situation. In quebec the police have the authority to file charges when the women won't and I think that is a much better way.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
they showed her on tv, she looked like a normal woman if you know what I mean, yet she must certainly be scarred over been abused twice over like that.
@jeanniemay (1798)
• Philippines
13 Apr 08
Whoa! Yes, I think it is not legal to put someone in detention if there is no legal complaint filed against them and there was any warrant to attest to the claim.
I would agree, that there is some need for protection but not to illegally detain her. She can file charges to authorities for illegal detention in that case.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
she is detained by the authorities, I really don't know what is going on with this case. I have never heard of it before.
1 person likes this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
1 Jun 08
The poor thing is probably so frightened of this man that she fears his rath if she testifies! I thought that they now understood the plight and mindset of abused women to realize this is in an idiotic way to go about it.
She IS being victimized again. She should be sent to a women's shelter for protection where she can get counseling and then maybe she will testify.
@reeseyj (906)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I feel that something has to be done about these woman calling the cops and then recanting. It is a waste of time and money. If woman want to call the cops and then later say that it didnt happen then they should be punished in some way or if there is proof of abuse it doesnt matter what the woman says the guys going to jail.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
20 Apr 08
yep here it Quebec it is like that, the police can press charges, because women ended up dying before they turned their abusers in.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
It is a scary thing, and I don't want it ever to happen here in quebec,
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
14 Apr 08
I think the police have a good idea of getting the abuser behind bars. I just think they are going the wrong way of handling the abused women. I think instead of arresting them, which they already been through hell and back, they should be placed in some type of protection. While they are in protection, given counceling, and all the help they need to get back on their feet. This would work so much better than arresting them, because it would make them feel safe.
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
yes very true, I just don't understand why they took such an aggressive stance with the woman.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
17 Apr 08
maybe and maybe not I think they are actually trying to protect her and keep her alive until she can testify. if she goes back to her abuser he could well kill her this time and would not that be much worse than being kept away from him for awhile. I donot thinkthat in a case like this they actually put them in a cell like a crook, its more like they are just keeping her for safety's sake. she did change her mind and in some states that is an offense. its a sticky situation for sure.a safe house would have been much better I would think.she would not feel so imprisoned then.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
31 May 08
I don't think that is fair at all. The women should have a choice as to what they want to do or tell. I do not think the court authorities have the right to keep a person who has done nothing wrong. They were the victim but they are the ones having to pay for the crime that someone else committed just because they chose not to turn them in. The law is so corrupted.
2 people like this
@sunshinelady (7609)
• United States
14 Apr 08
This is the wrong way to get a abused women to testify. As you say what it will more than likely do is stop them from calling at all. I think the authorities have over stepped their boundries. What makes them think that once she gets to trial that she will go ahead and testify. Once again she gets thrown at the mercy of someone else. What they are doing is just as much as abuse as what the abuser was doing.
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
yes I don't know how they think they are going to get her to admit it if she doesn't want to unless they figure they can scare her with perjury if she doesn't.
@SweetVanillaKisses (173)
• Canada
14 Apr 08
You know Women that are STUPID enough to let a man beat on them then call the police and then change their story should be pt in jail. Once you report someone abusing you you can't always stop the police from pressing charges and if they say you have to be there then tough luck for you because they will put a warrant out for your arrest and you will be put in jail.
My mother kept doing this and the police got so fed up with her that they charged her BF and she had no choice but to testify otherwise they both would have been charged. Him for the abuse and her for purgery. If these woman don't want their men in jail then they need to keep their mouths shut and deal with getting beat up.
Now don't get me wrong I don't' think anyone deserves this BUT for women that just don't learn and keep going back it's their own fault. If they have left and gone back they know exactly what they are going back to, so they need to OPEN their eyes and THINK before acting on these kinds of things. I don't think it will make women stop calling the police it will make them think of their consequences.
@SweetVanillaKisses (173)
• Canada
14 Apr 08
If a woman keeps going back after each beaing then yes she is LETTING him do it and yea it's his fault too but the first time a man hits a woman is the time that that woman should leave him and never look back. Look I grew up watching my mother meat repeatedly and almost killed over and over. this is a sore subject for me. My mother had 2 SMALL children and allowed a man to beat on her in front of us every night and instead of leaving she let us see it. To this day she is in an abusive relationship and if she doesn't leave he will probably end up killing her because she is being too stupid to leave. Yes she's my mother and I love her dearly but when she calls me in the middle of the night because he has beaten her with different objects around the house I can't help but hate the man and tell her to leave him. Now she doesn't have many people who will let her b!tch about it because she is not doing anything to better her life so why should we help her get out of it. She don't want to so it's partly her fault!!!!
So don't bother trying to make me have sympathy for abused women, it will nto do any good. The MINUTE a man put his hand on me in a violent way was the minute his a$$ was on the street I don't put up with it because I am NOT going to make my kids watch be almost get killed thank you very much i care about my kids more than that.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
1 Jun 08
I don't know why either, they can and do prosecute the abusers here in Quebec.
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
15 Apr 08
Yes, I see your point. But if he is willing to abuse her while she is pregnant, surely he does not care much for the child she is carrying. Who will protect the child that she is carrying. I can not stand when a mother puts the man before the child. Because of this, I feel that they are doing the right thing.
If it were just her and she wanted to change her story and allow this man to keep beating on her, fine, but that is not the case. What they should do is hold her in custody until the baby is born, take the baby away and then release her to do whatever she wants to do.
1 person likes this
@suehan1 (4344)
• Australia
15 Apr 08
i think thats illegal to keep some against their will,well i don't know about canada,but here i am pretty sure you can not be kept against your will for changing your mind.she is obviously scared of the abuser that she changed her mind,so you would think that they should have offered her support and promised her safety so she would willingly testify against him.cheers sue
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
17 Apr 08
You cannot blame the police in a way becauseshe did change her mind and they already knew he had abused her,why the heck did she not follow through with it,why protect an abuser who would probably kill her the next time.perhaps the police were concerned about her safety also. but it would have been much better if they could have put her in a safe house rather than just in the ordinary prison cell. I do not think it will have that bad an impact on other women who are abused. If they have the sense of a billygoat they have to know abusers do not change they just get more violent. Why do they change their minds. why protect someone who is worse than pond scum?It is sort of a touchy subject all the way around but I can understand the police's view on this as they risk their very lives going on these abuse calls and then the women refuse to testify?
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
20 Apr 08
because it is psychological, brain washing, etc, there are so many reasons why women don't testify many of these jerks tell them if they go to jail they will get out and kill them, some thing the abuser will change especially when he is crying and begging her to give him another chance. Some women think so low of themselves that they feel the guy has a right to beat them, if he beat them they did something wrong. It is very very complicated.
@renaud_tan (416)
• Philippines
14 Apr 08
it's her own fault, why would she report a case if she would just turn back on it and refuses her own report case... 
@Esoteric1 (863)
• Canada
13 Apr 08
I totally agree with you, they are sending out a very bad message to people that genuinely need help. Women should not be afraid in their own homes nor should they be afraid to seek help if they need it. I think I can understand why they might have done that and in other cases it might be the right thing for them to do. But in the cases where people fear their own wellbeing it should be understood justice needs to be served but most people like myself will not risk our on demise just to see justice served. They probably should have taken matters in their own hands and prosecuted the "offender" without her testimony, as I have seen them do that before ... especially here in Quebec.
2 people like this
@iZoran (111)
• Serbia And Montenegro
1 Jun 08
It certainly sounds quite strange and I can't help thinking there is more to this than meets the eye. It is very wrong for the police to force this woman against her will, however there could be circumstances we do not know about. Have you considered these possibilities: She has a violent boyfriend and an un-born baby. The police cannot force her to protect herself from her boyfriend but they can protect her child. Think about it.
In this case it is most likely that the police are pressing charges.
Secondly, if the police have held this woman after changing her story, there may be something suspicious in the story from the beginning. It does happen that some women accuse men of violence, as a way of getting attention or 'winning' power over that man. Police and courts do not pay attention to any man who denys having hit a woman. It could be this woman has played this game many times and the police are now forcing the issue. At the end of the day they are police and this woman could cry wolf forever, they would still have to respond. They could be fed up.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
1 Jun 08
it is pretty hard to hit cuts and bruises and the medical authorities and social workers confirm her story. This was on the news and well investigated,
And in Quebec where I live the police can and do take abusers to court and then they face the music,
the woman do not even have to press charges, if the physical evidence is there and a call for the police was made, the police can and do take over afterwards,
that became law over 20 years ago when a women here in quebec was killed by her abusive husband.
