. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Broadcast starting October 22, 2003 Winner of top honors at Gracie Awards (Grand Award for Best News and Information Program) from American Women in Radio and Television.

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Every year, over one million women are battered by someone they know. It's a crime, and for too many Americans, it's also a fact of daily life. Guests include domestic violence survivor Judith, whom we agreed would be identified only by her first name; filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, whose most recent documentary films "Domestic Violence" and "Domestic Violence II" will have their premiere broadcasts on PBS in March; Dr. Judith Herman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School; Ms. Clare Dalton, professor of law at Northeastern University and executive director of the Domestic Violence Institute at Northeastern University School of Law; singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, whose song "Luka" put domestic violence on the top ten charts; John, who says he is a former batterer and who asked to be identified only by his first name; and Dr. Edward Gondolf, professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and research director of the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute. Dr. Peter Kramer is the program's guest host, filling in for Dr. Fred Goodwin, who is traveling.

The program begins with an introductory essay by Dr. Peter Kramer. By any standard, domestic violence is an enormous problem in this country. A conservative estimate suggests that every year one million women suffer nonfatal injuries at the hands of someone they know. Children in homes where there is partner abuse are far more likely to be abused than children in households where there is no partner abuse. Communities have an important role to play. Widespread awareness of available help; the rejection of domestic violence as normal; safe havens; swift police and judiciary responses to domestic violence; and treatment for victims and offenders are all important elements of any community campaign against domestic violence.

Next, Judith, a survivor of domestic violence, tells her story. After several incidents in which her husband slapped her, she began to reexamine her marriage in therapy. She didn't want to end her marriage, she says, in part because she thought doing so would hurt her children. Judith reads from a journal entry she wrote shortly after her husband gave her a black eye. She left him that night. "I felt so free," she concludes. "Elated."

Next, Dr. Peter Kramer speaks with filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, widely praised for his groundbreaking documentaries. To date, he has made thirty-two documentary films, beginning with "Titicut Follies," which examines life in a prison for the criminally insane, right up to "Domestic Violence II," which aired on PBS, along with the television premiere on PBS of his earlier documentary "Domestic Violence." Mr. Wiseman shot the two films over the course of eight weeks in Tampa, Florida, in a domestic violence shelter, the courts, and in homes and on the streets as Tampa police responded to domestic violence calls. "One of the things that struck me about the experience was how enormously complicated these relationships are and how extraordinarily difficult it is for people to unravel them, both in a sense of having understanding and making a decision to leave," says Mr. Wiseman.In one sequence from "Domestic Violence II," a woman comes to court to ask the judge to release her partner, who is alleged to have dropped her upside down on her head. She tells the judge that she had been partially at fault for the incident. Mr. Wiseman notes that it's difficult to know whether the woman really believes what she is saying. The experience of many judges, says Mr. Wiseman, suggests that "oftentimes people will retract their stories because they want to make a go of it or they don't want to change their life or any variety of reasons that we can think of."

To learn more about Frederick Wiseman and the documentary "Domestic Violence," visit the web site for Zipporah Films. To contact Mr. Wiseman, write to Zipporah Films, One Richdale Avenue, Unit #4 Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02140.

Next, Dr. Kramer interviews Dr. Judith Herman and Ms. Clare Dalton. Dr. Herman is professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School and the author of "Trauma and Recovery." Ms. Dalton is professor of law at Northeastern University and heads the Domestic Violence Institute at Northeastern University's law school. She was an advisor to Frederick Wiseman in the making of his two films about domestic violence. Picking up on Mr. Wiseman's observations, Dr. Kramer asks why it can be so hard for women to leave abusive relationships. Fear and intimidation can be part of it, says Dr. Herman, as can financial and social considerations. Furthermore, "to acknowledge that a relationship is not working and that there's no hope of salvaging it is a terrible loss for most people," she says, adding "especially for women." Chronic abuse can also deplete and exhaust victims. "They're kind of frozen with terror. They're not thinking of the long run." Men are far more often the perpetrators and women are far more often the victims, but domestic violence is also found in same sex relationships and sometimes in heterosexual couples the man is the victim. For victims "getting safe is the first order of business," says Ms. Dalton. Restraining orders effectively protect many women from their abusers, she says. However, in about half the cases in which restraining orders are issued, abusers reassault their victims within a year of receiving them. A caller, Cathy, asks for advice in helping her son, who she says is being abused by his wife. "It's always just incredibly important to offer your ongoing support," says Ms. Dalton. "'I'm concerned for your well being' ... 'I'm here whenever you need someone and I'd love to help.'" Another caller shares her experience of being abused. Dr. Herman suggests she find supportive people to help get her life back together, "because nobody can do this alone." Ms. Dalton recommends that communities take a coordinated response to domestic violence, so that people in every helping profession can recognize the signs of domestic violence, offer help, and direct survivors to other resources as needed.

To learn more about Clare Dalton's work, visit the web site for the Domestic Violence Institute at Northeastern University School of Law. To contact Ms. Dalton, click here to send her email or write to Northeastern University School of Law 400 Huntington Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

To contact Dr. Judith Herman, click here to send email or write to Cambridge Hospital 1493 Cambridge Street Department of Psychiatry Cambridge, MA 02139. See below to purchase her book, "Trauma and Recovery."

The Infinite Mind's Emily Fisher interviews singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega about the song that's become an anthem of sorts for its role in raising awareness of domestic violence, "Luka." Ms. Vega wrote the song in 1984. It appeared on her 1987 album "Solitude Standing" and quickly became a huge success. The album earned three Grammy nominations, including "Song of the Year," for "Luka." Ms. Vega says "As a writer I was trying to engage the listener and in a way to indict the listener, to say 'My name is Luka, I live upstairs from YOU.'" Suzanne Vega performs the song, which begins "My name is Luka, I live on the second floor. I live upstairs from you. Yes I think you've seen me before. If you hear something late at night, Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight, Just don't ask me what it was." "Luka" leads off a CD on the double CD compilation "Respond II," proceeds of which will go to help families affected by domestic violence.

To order Suzanne Vega's CDs or learn more about her, click here to visit her official web site, Vega.net.

See below to purchase "Respond II" (performers include Suzanne Vega, Dolly Parton, Ani diFranco, and Aimee Mann).

Dr. Kramer interviews Dr. Edward Gondolf and John, who identifies himself as a former batterer. Dr. Gondolf is professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and research director of the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute. John says that after hitting his ex-wife he would feel a sense of relief, followed by shame. Dr. Gondolf has recently conducted a study of treatment for batterers which tracked 800 men over four years in Houston, Dallas, Denver, and Pittsburgh, interviewing them and their partners several times a year. Over a four year period, he found that half the men in the study reassaulted their partners. One surprising result was that the shortest treatment program, which was three months long, had a similar outcome to a nine month program in another location. Dr. Gondolf concludes the system makes a difference. In Pittsburgh, the site of the short term program, men were referred more promptly to treatment and the court system responded more quickly to noncompliance with the program or additional offenses. Talking about the self help group of which he is a member, John says "It allows me to think about my anger before I respond," says John. His advice for a man who is being abusive in a relationship is to find a self help program or another organization that could help him and stick with it. He says women who are being abused should seek help immediately, whether through the state or a shelter. Dr. Gondolf concurs, adding that there are many organizations and people who are ready and willing and able to help.To contact Dr. Gondolf click here to send him email or write to him at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute, 1098 Oakland Avenue, Indiana, PA. 15705 .

The program concludes with a change of subjects, as commentator John Hockenberry pauses to remember children's television pioneer Fred Rogers. He says he has been thinking of Mr. Rogers of late not because of his recent death but because the country is on the brink of war. Twelve years ago, Hockenberry recalls, after Iraq had invaded Kuwait, Fred Rogers was interviewed on the program "All Things Considered." The "language of interviewers was just beginning to be filled with the side-taking nouns and adjectives of 'us" versus them." Hockenberry says. He recalls being moved to tears by Rogers's steady insistence on avoiding divisive language, his calm refusal to go along with an interviewer's assumption that parents should describe Saddam Hussein to their children as 'evil.'

Additional Resources HELP! If you are in immediate danger, call 911. To learn more about domestic violence and what you can do about it, call or contact any of these organizations:

National Domestic Violence Hotline. Click here to visit the web site of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The number is 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-SAFE. The hotline is open twenty-four hours a day and can direct you to resources, including safe houses, in your own community. "If you need help," suggests the hotline's web site, "call right away."

Click here to visit the web site for the Office of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. Or you can contact the office by writing to Office on Violence Against Women 810 7th Street, NW Washington, DC 20531.

Click here to visit the web site for the American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence.

Or write to Commission on Domestic Violence 740 15th Street, NW, 9th Floor Washington, DC, 20005-1022

 

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