"Potępiamy nadużywanie przemocy wobec kobiet" : o kryminalizacji przemocy domowej w Polsce

One can often hear Polish politicians saying there is no violence against women in Poland, since Polish men respect their women and women hold a strong position in Polish culture. The conviction rates for domestic abuse in Poland are indeed low, though the attrition rates are high. Every year, for approximately 75,000 registered cases of domestic violence, there are roughly 10,000 convictions. Most of the prison sentences are conditionally suspended. Protective orders or other punitive measures are seldom handed down. There is a visible reluctance on the part of the criminal justice system to punish and correct domestic abusers. One of the reasons is that domestic abuse provisions in the Polish Penal Code (Article 207 of the Polish Penal Code from 1997) criminalises a very different behaviour than is defined in the Counteracting Family Violence Act from 2005. Another, possibly even greater, reason is the culture of sentencing (both in general and of domestic abuse) within the Polish judiciary and the very strong conservatism of Polish decision-makers and society. The protection of family values by legislators and the judiciary is often enforced at the expense of the victims’ right to life and to a life free from violence. This article discusses the Polish system for preventing domestic violence, which was set up in 2005 and the construction and jurisprudence of crime described in Article 207 of the Polish Penal Code. In particular, the question of culpability raises many problems when it comes to prosecution. First, we must compare Article 207 with the definition of ‘family violence’ specified inthe Counteracting Family Violence Act and the Istanbul Convention. Then, I will explain how such an understanding and interpretation of Article 207 translates into the dynamics of sentencing and penal decision-making and the virtual ineffectiveness of both penal provisions (the lack of deterrent effect) and the system of counteracting family violence designed by lawmakers.One can often hear Polish politicians saying there is no violence against women in Poland, since Polish men respect their women and women hold a strong position in Polish culture. The conviction rates for domestic abuse in Poland are indeed low, though the attrition rates are high. Every year, for approximately 75,000 registered cases of domestic violence, there are roughly 10,000 convictions. Most of the prison sentences are conditionally suspended. Protective orders or other punitive measures are seldom handed down. There is a visible reluctance on the part of the criminal justice system to punish and correct domestic abusers. One of the reasons is that domestic abuse provisions in the Polish Penal Code (Article 207 of the Polish Penal Code from 1997) criminalises a very different behaviour than is defined in the Counteracting Family Violence Act from 2005. Another, possibly even greater, reason is the culture of sentencing (both in general and of domestic abuse) within the Polish judiciary and the very strong conservatism of Polish decision-makers and society. The protection of family values by legislators and the judiciary is often enforced at the expense of the victims’ right to life and to a life free from violence. This article discusses the Polish system for preventing domestic violence, which was set up in 2005 and the construction and jurisprudence of crime described in Article 207 of the Polish Penal Code. In particular, the question of culpability raises many problems when it comes to prosecution. First, we must compare Article 207 with the definition of ‘family violence’ specified inthe Counteracting Family Violence Act and the Istanbul Convention. Then, I will explain how such an understanding and interpretation of Article 207 translates into the dynamics of sentencing and penal decision-making and the virtual ineffectiveness of both penal provisions (the lack of deterrent effect) and the system of counteracting family violence designed by lawmakers.   Powszechnie przyjmuje się, że art. 207 kodeksu karnego kryminalizujący znęcanie się nad najbliższymi osobami jest formą kryminalizacji przemocy domowej w polskim ustawodawstwie karnym. Jednak czy tak jest w istocie? Gdy Polska ratyfikowała konwencję stambulską (Konwencja Rady Europy ws. zwalczania przemocy domowej i przemocy wobec kobiet, CETS 210) w 2015 r. uznano, że nasze ustawodawstwo odnośnie do przemocy domowej spełnia wymogi konwencji, jeśli chodzi o zintegrowane, kompleksowe i skoordynowane ogólnokrajowe strategie obejmujące środki mające na celu zapobieganie wszelkim formom przemocy objętych zakresem konwencji. Pod względem ścigania aktów przemocy domowej uznano, że art. 207 jest wystarczającym instrumentem prawnokarnym, by zadośćuczynić wymogom konwencji. W artykule przedstawię polski system przeciwdziałania przemocy w rodzinie ustanowiony w ustawie z 2005 r. oraz zarysuję wzajemne relacje między systemem z ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu przemocy w rodzinie a regulacjami prawnokarnymi, a dokładnie to, czy zachowanie stypizowane w art. 207 k.k. pokrywa się z ustawową definicją przemocy w rodzinie. Te relacje bardzo wyraźnie obrazują liczby, które pokazują, że państwo polskie nie jest specjalnie responsywne na przemoc domową, a owa niska responsywność tylko po części wynika z niedoskonałych przepisów prawa, a w ogromnej części z pewnej inercji podmiotów stosujących prawo, archaicznej wykładni znamion omawianego przestępstwa i braku woli politycznej

An explanation of honourrelated killings of women in Europe through Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence and masculine domination

The article aims to explain the lethal violence against women observed in certain contexts in recent years. It analyses the phenomenon of female homicide victimization through the lens of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence. The principal manifestation of homicide of female victims explored in this article are honour killings in migrant communities in Europe, a culturally specific form of gender-related homicide. The concept of symbolic violence partially explains the honour-related violence within the framework of patriarchal theories and emphasizes the function of direct violence against women as a patriarchal backlash in a situation of structural changes in gender relations. Applying Bourdieu’s theory to honour killings in Europe will explain the dynamics of violence against women in a situation where symbolic patriarchal power is undermined, due to new structural conditions, and offer guidelines on context and agent-focused approaches to tackling the phenomenon

INFLUENCE OF MOTION OF THE LOAD DISTRIBUTED OVER A GIVEN LENGTH ON BENDING MOMENT AND SHEAR FORCE IN A TRACK MODELLED AS TIMOSHENKO BEAM

The object of consideration is a track modelled by Timoshenko beam resting on inertialess, viscoelastic foundation of non-linear characteristic. The beam is subjected to load distributed over a given length and moving at a constant velocity. Stationary vibrations of the beam are described by two ordinary differential equations of the fourth order determined from the system of two partial differential equations. To analyze the influence of non-linearity, the method of approximation presented in [2] was applied. The study of the load motion velocity on extreme values of bending moments and shear forces in a track was considered taking into account the assumed types of non-linearities

Alien Registration- Grzyb, Antoni (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32059/thumbnail.jp

Penal populism: Negotiating the feminist agenda. Evidence from Spain and Poland

It is interesting to observe how penal populism intersects with feminism when it comes to gender-based violence, as regards both anti-rape and domestic abuse reforms. There is a vast scholarship (Bumiller, 2008; Gottschalk, 2006; Gruber, 2007) in the US explaining how feminist activism turned to state power to demand more protection and more criminalization, and little focus on the European context. This article aims to analyse the development of what might be called feminist penal populist discourse in Spain and Poland. Whereas penal populist discourse has been conspicuous in Spain, and the authorities there ally themselves with domestic feminist groups and scholars to combat gender-based violence, Poland has never embraced the feminist agenda, despite the widespread influence and effectiveness of penal populism in that country. The article attempts to answer the general question: Why are feminist demands likely to be addressed in some countries where penal populism discourse has emerged in the political and public sphere, but not in others? The analysis demonstrates that the proclivity for penal populism and selection of topics are strongly related not only to some structural factors or political culture, but also to the historical and social context of each country. In Spain, the feminist movement was incorporated and politicized by left-wing parties into mainstream politics, whereas in Poland there was no grass-roots movement for women’s liberation for a long time, and the emancipatory politics during the communist era was superficial

Alien Registration- Grzyb, Antoni (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32059/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Grzyb, Antoni (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32059/thumbnail.jp

CHARACTERISATION OF Y-BOX PROTEIN 3 (MSY3) IN THE DEVELOPING MURINE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes of the central nervous system (CNS) arise from a common pool of multipotent neuroepithelial progenitor cells lining the walls of the neural tube. Initially, neuroepithelial cells undergo symmetric proliferative divisions, thereby expanding the progenitor pool and determining the size of brain compartments. At the onset of neurogenesis, a subset of progenitors switch to asymmetric or terminal symmetric neurogenic divisions. Maintenance of progenitor cell population throughout the period of neurogenesis is essential to generate the full diversity of neuronal cell types and proper histological pattern. However, the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of progenitor cells proliferation are far from being fully understood. The family of Y-box proteins is involved in control of proliferation and transformation in various normal and pathological cellular systems, and therefore was considered as a candidate to exert such a function. Y-box proteins have a capacity to bind DNA and RNA, thereby controlling gene expression from transcription to translation. This study aimed to examine the expression of mouse Y-box protein 3 (MSY3) in the developing nervous system and elucidate its putative role in regulation of proliferation of progenitor cells. As presented in this work, the MSY3 protein in the embryonic CNS is expressed solely in progenitor cells and not neurons. Moreover, as shown by two independent approaches: morphologically, i.e. using immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, and biochemically, MSY3 expression is downregulated concomitantly with the spatiotemporal progression of neurogenesis. Interestingly, in preliminary results it was shown that MSY3 is expressed in Dcx-positive transient amplifying precursors in germinal zones of the adult brain, and in EGF-dependent neurospheres. To evaluate whether MSY3 could regulate the neurogenesis, the levels of the MSY3 protein in the progenitors were acutely downregulated or elevated by electroporation of RNAi or MSY3 expression plasmids, respectively. Neither premature reduction of MSY3 in the neuroepithelium (E9.5-E11.5) nor prolonged expression at the developmental stage when this protein is endogenously downregulated (E10.5-14.5) did affect proliferation versus the cell cycle exit of progenitors. Moreover, in Notch1-deficient progenitors in the cerebellar anlage, which exhibit precocious differentiation, MSY3 was not prematurely downregulated, suggesting that MSY3 also is not an early marker of differentiation. Differential centrifugation, immunoprecipitation and polysomal analysis performed in this study revealed that the MSY3 protein in the developing embryo, as well as in Neuro-2A cells, is associated with RNA. On a sucrose density gradient MSY3 co-fractionates with ribosomes and actively translating polysomes, suggesting that it might have a role in regulation of translation. However, downregulation or overexpression of MSY3 in the Neuro-2A cell line did not affect global translation rates. Other researchers suggested that the MSY3 protein has the redundant function with Y-box protein 1 (YB-1). Accordingly, in our system the MSY3 protein could be co-immunoprecipitated with YB-1. Importantly, developmentally regulated expression of MSY3 is not a hallmark of general translation apparatus, as several other proteins involved in translation did not show similar downregulation. To summarise, this work showed that the MSY3 protein is a marker of proliferation of progenitor cells in the embryonic and adult brain, being absent from neurons. Discovery of the molecular mechanism by which MSY3 exerts its role in the cell could provide the link between the translational machinery and proliferation

Alien Registration- Grzyb, Melanja M. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32060/thumbnail.jp