There are many issues regarding domestic violence, but the one that, to me, is most infuriating, most unfair, and most misunderstood is the most commonly asked question of all: “Why didn’t she just leave?” But that should not be the question. The question should be, “Why do men batter women?” And as a society, “How do we stop it?” That’s what we should be asking. Why don’t they leave? There are many issues involved, and very complicated ones … [Read more...]
Robert Davidson
Robert Davidson speaks nationally and has written numerous columns for various publications. In The Beast I Loved, originally published by Ballantine Books in 2000 under the title Fighting Back, now revised and updated with new material, he examines family dysfunction, the psychology of violence, and the resulting tragedy. He was the winner of New England’s venerable Seacoast Writers Association award for Best Nonfiction. He also wrote How … [Read more...]
THE BEAST I LOVED: A Battered Woman’s Desperate Struggle To Survive
Before abuse hot lines and safe houses were widespread, June Briand shot four bullets into her husband’s head and was sentenced to fifteen years to life. This is the shocking true story of survival—and the intense bond June shared with her pathologically violent husband, a monster who physically and sexually tortured, degraded and dominated her so relentlessly that she refused to believe he was dead even after she killed him. What kind of woman … [Read more...]