Battered women who kill their abusers should not get harsh punishment or the same punishment as other murderers. The statistics are ridiculous on how many women are abused in the United States. Currently there are 2,000 to 4,000 battered women in America serving prison time for defending their lives against their batterers (Talvi inthesetimes.com). The average prison sentence of men who kill their female partners is two to six years and women who kill their male partners are sentenced on average to fifteen years, despite the fact that they did it in self defense (Talvi inthesetimes.com). Ever three minutes a woman is raped, every fifteen seconds a woman is battered and every six hours a woman is battered to death. More women seek medical attention for harm inflicted by a spouse than for injuries caused by auto accidents, rapes, and muggings combined (cyber.law.Harvard.edu). Research indicates that half the women in this country will experience some sort of violence from a husband or a boyfriend, in one form or another every year. 73 percent to 85 percent do not experience physical assault until after they have married the abuser (Browne,47). Battering is also known as wife assault, spousal abuse, women abuse, and violence against women in relationships. Battering crosses all classes, race, lifestyles, and religious lines (Nicarthy 13). there is a cycle of violence that batterers use to gain their domination and control (Cyber.law.Harvard.edu). .
The first phase is "the tension-building stage." During the stage only minor battering and abuse occurs. The second phase is "acute battering incident" the serious violence takes place during this period and it can be very dangerous and the third stage is "the honeymoon phase" the batterer apologizes for his abusive behavior and promises it will never happen again during this stage. This cycle of violence just repeats itself over and over again even though the batterer keeps apologizing (msu.
