All our sympathy goes out to the families and loved ones of
the victims killed senselessly in Santa Barbara this past weekend.
I have been searching my heart to find words to make sense of
these killings. In his own words, Elliott Rogers – the killer - describes how
seeing men, minority men especially, with white women made him mad. His hate
speech was so frequent and virulent that he was known to groups that track hate
speech, like the Southern Poverty Law Center. Rogers’ mother reported him as a
risk to himself and society four weeks before the killings. UC Santa Barbara
has such a history of crimes against women that young women rarely walk around
campus alone.
There are issues of misogyny, mental illness, weapons
ownership, a culture of violence, #YesAllWomen, male privilege - all mixed up
in one hate filled life – the life of a man who saw the deaths of others as just
retribution for being unpopular.
To make this crime an issue of the killer’s mental health
does not help unless we are willing to tackle the difficult issue of mental
health care in America. To hinge our actions on gun control may feel good, but
half of the killer’s victims were killed with a knife, and although more than
half our citizens favor stronger gun control, our elected officials don’t enact
effective gun control legislation. Taking on the culture’s views about women and
violence? That is a large part of the Center Against Domestic Violence’s
charge.
The Center Against Domestic Violence was founded on the
principle that a woman – a person – should feel as safe in her home as she felt
on the street. Our founders worked for legislation that made domestic violence
and marital rape crimes in New York State and New York City. In recent times,
we raised our institutional voice to support the Violence Against Women Act’s
reinstatement, including its hate crime provisions.
The Center believes that everyone has the right to a life
free of violence; that domestic violence victims can transform their lives and
become survivors; that violence is a learned behavior, and with education, all
people can lead lives filled with healthy, meaningful relationships; and,
finally, that the key to ending violence is to begin prevention programs at a
young age. Our programs are based on these key beliefs and work together to
accomplish our mission, ending domestic violence in our communities.
These programs, especially the school-based Relationship
Abuse Prevention Program and Relationships Are Elementary, teach about healthy
relationships by teaching about the worth and complexity of human beings. In an
elementary school stopping fourth grade bullying, a high school organizing
teens to end teen dating abuse, or a shelter giving a battered woman the tools
to head her family, the Center affirms each human’s right to a life free of
violence.
-Judith Kahan
CEO, Center Against Domestic Violence
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