Article: https://womensenews.org/2017/11/getting-life-by-saving-her-life/
Overview: This article talks about a woman from New York named Sharon Richardson who was charged with killing her abusive boyfriend, she was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. She’s been out of prison for 7 years now and the prison she was incarcerated in is being torn down and in its place, a safe house is being built. This safe house is a place where women and young girls of all races can come no matter what their situation is. Despite this, New York City still hasn’t passed The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, which was first proposed in 2011. Richardson made a comment about the law, saying that they pass any law they want as soon as possible. However, as you can see they still haven’t passed this act. Richardson believes that they haven’t passed this law due to a misunderstanding of how severe domestic abuse actually is, she feels that it has always been this way. The article then goes on into detail about how there are more many affected by domestic abuse than there are women who were arrested for defending themselves.
Opinion: I believe that Sharon shouldn’t have been arrested for defending herself against her abusive boyfriend while there are many white males who get off so easy for mass shootings. I also believe that New York City, as well as the rest of the world, needs to get their priorities straight, because if they don’t see domestic abuse as a big issue then there is a huge problem.
Questions: Do you believe that it was right that Sharon was arrested for defending herself? What do you think should be done to get New York City to pass the DVSJA? Why are white males let off the hook so easily when it comes to topics like murder when in comparison to people of color and women of color?