4/10/2007

New Op-ed on What Should We Advise Women who are being Stalked?

Sonya Jones and I have a new op-ed on the recent failure of restraining orders in protecting women: Flawed Laws Help Stalkers Victimize Women.

What do you do when the police can’t protect you?

Police may be the single most important factor for reducing crime, but there is something the police themselves understand: They almost always arrive at the crime scene after the crime has occurred.

Expecting people to trust the police to protect them and to behave passively is a recipe for disaster.

The last couple of weeks have seen a couple prominent murders where restraining orders did women little good. Numerous news organizations, such as ABC News, have run headlines asking "How Do You Stop a Stalker From Killing You?"

Unfortunately, despite acknowledging that "many women find themselves on their own," the media are drawing the wrong lessons. To simply advise that women "Get the hell away from him" often doesn't go anywhere near far enough. . . .

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It always amazes me that people give others advice that they are unwilling to take for themselves. I assume that the Seattle police feel uncomfortable if they don't have a gun to protect themselves when they are off duty. Why is it any different for anyone else, especially someone who isn't strong enough to fight off these criminals.

4/10/2007 7:31 PM  

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