Bruised and battered

TVScope Beaten, Primetime RTÉ 1, Monday, May 16thPrincess Diana's infamous gaffe, when she described the recipients of her charity as 'battered this, battered that', reflected a deeper societal desire to distance ourselves from the victims of abuse. In Beaten, a harrowing portrayal of domestic violence, Caroline, who had been punched in the stomach by her husband when she was six months pregnant, met this same resistance in the judge hearing the case against her husband.

"Not another physically and mentally abused woman," he exclaimed, rolling his eyes up to heaven. "But it's the truth," Caroline retorted, and in Beaten we, the viewers, heard the reality of that truth for women who are battered and beaten by the husbands and partners they once loved.

Fear permeated the programme. It was palpable behind the voices of the women who told us their stories of being raped, beaten with a floor brush, choked, slammed through a glass door, of having a jar of coffee broken on a head, of ribs being broken after being jumped on by a husband holding a baby in his arms. Fear was in the four pairs of children's eyes looking from under the table at their mother as their father literally pulled both hair and skin off her head, leaving her bald.

Fear was most poignantly and tragically felt by the little girl who cried and 'didn't know what to do' as she watched her stepfather stab her mother to death with a kitchen knife.

Fear remained for some women, even after escape, as their partners tracked them down and forced them to live under siege. Fear no doubt also contributed to only one of the victims allowing herself to be identified on the programme, which, in turn, perpetuates the 'different from us' myths about women who are the victims of abuse. It was also unfortunate that the only direct contribution from a perpetrator of domestic violence was the disguised, distorted voice of a man in a treatment group.

The women who told their stories knew they were lucky to have escaped with their lives, unlike the 37 women murdered by their partners during the last 10 years. Contributors to the programme indicated that we continue to fail in our response to the terrified women who do try to escape, which is when they are in greatest danger. Some Women's Aid Refuges have to turn women and children away, and they lack even the resources to respond to all phone calls. There can be a 10 to 14-week delay in women obtaining a protection order from the courts and, not surprisingly, many women withdraw their complaint during this time. The Garda is the only State body to have an official policy on domestic violence, but some victims feel that the attitude of "it's only domestic" still prevails.

While the programme was profoundly disturbing, it was also frustrating in its lack of constructive engagement in what we can do in terms of treatment and prevention. Are we still, 30 years after the women's movement pioneered awareness of domestic violence, stuck in a shock and horror response?

We know that women, men and children are all victims of violence within their homes. We need programmes now to respond in helping to find solutions to this grim reality.