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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Jul
3
Pittsburgh’s Finest Aren’t So Fine with Women’s Rights Groups
Filed Under activism, assholes, patriarchy, politics, violence against women and girls | Posted by Cara |
Three Pittsburgh police officers with records of domestic abuse have been promoted. Women’s groups, including NOW, have protested the decision and called for their demotion, to no avail. That decision was based on fears by the city that the Fraternal Order of Police would sue. NOW has pointed out that they also have lawyers.
In attempt to appease the activists, the mayor has promised “a new policy that will set a standard of zero tolerance for domestic abuse.” And I’m sure that’s going to be really effective and enforceable when the cops are doing the same damn thing. Thankfully, the activists are not buying it.
Here’s my question: forget the promotions, why the hell are officers with histories of violent crime allowed to serve in the police force at all? Because they just beat up women? Because they just beat up women who they’re currently sleeping with or are related to (one incident involved an officer hitting his daughter)? Maybe because we don’t take male violence against women seriously in this country at all?
There’s no such thing as “zero tolerance” with officers like this on The Force. Period.
[A big thank you to the First Pittsburgh NOW Chapter for their work.]
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
Pardon the extreme cynicism here, but I frequently think things like this go back to property law.
If the men in question had beaten somebody else’s wife or child, they’d probably be fired, but because they only beat their own wives or children and therefore only damaged their own property, it’s not so bad, right?
This seems to be the takeaway lesson for that argument.
Something alarmingly similar happens frequently when it comes to child molestation, too. The penalties for molesting someone else’s child are usually stiffer than the penalties for molesting your own. In California, many convicted sex offenders are barred from consorting with children, unless those children are their own flesh and blood. Because, you know, you want to keep THAT shit in the family.
…the hell?
A few years ago, a law was proposed that would ban men who had been convicted of domestic violence from owning firearms. The Fraternal Order of Police were vehement in their opposition to this law. Why? Because it would put a huge percentage of police out of a job. the FOP claimed that these men had paid their debt to society and shouldn’t be further punished by laws such as this.
(Police)Men who beat women defend other men who beat women. This is why we have a system that further victimizes victims of domestic violence.
Looks like some of those guys are on both sides of the thin blue line when it comes to victimizing women.