Caring for Children and Caretakers

This Commentary remarks on the work of Fineman and Williams, particularly their contributions to this Symposium. Both argue for better supports for caretakers and link such support to equality for women. In addition, this Commentary remarks on a recent article by Katherine Franke attacking feminist arguments for support of caretakers. Becker argues that better social and economic supports for caretakers and their dependents are necessary, not just to lessen the inequality between women and men, but as key components of a government fulfilling its primary goal—ensuring that all citizens are able to develop their capabilities

Access to Justice for Battered Women

In this Essay, I consider some of the problems facing battered women in three situations: when involved in a custody dispute with an abuser; when on trial for the murder of an abuser or of a child killed by the abuser; and when seeking an order of protection or filing a domestic violence report with the police, thus triggering the local domestic violence response system. In my discussion of these three areas, two themes emerge. One is our systemic failure to understand the emotions of battered women, a problem often caused not by the differences between “them” and “us,” but by the similarities between their emotional responses and our own. The second is our tendency to blame the domestic violence survivor for the act of violence by seeing the consequences of domestic violence as evidence of her innate character traits, her failings, and her responsibility for violence perpetrated by someone else. Finally, I propose specific changes, including legislative action, which would improve conditions for battered women in each of the three situations discussed

The First Amendment and Sexual Harassment at School and at Work

The Edith House Lecture was held on November 2, 1995 at 3:30 p.m. in the law school auditorium