From The Burning Bed to Jodi Arias: The Abuse Defense Gone Wrong

Article here. Excerpt:

'Most crimes of domestic abuse and stalking are perpetrated by men, but just because the majority of victims are women, to deny that women can be controlling and abusive and stalk and kill the men they covet, is a travesty to what the last 35 years have taught us about the dynamics of abuse. To suggest that Jodi Arias was a victim of an abusive boyfriend flies in the face of everything we have learned about power, control and obsession in intimate partner and stalking crimes. Far worse, to remain blind to the evidence of stalking and premeditated homicide because of the genders of the perpetrators and/or victims, is to send us back 35 years to the years before the case of Francine Hughes and The Burning Bed brought the realities of domestic abuse out of the closet, and gave victims some help and hope, however limited it remains.
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Just because a woman treats a man badly is no excuse for killing her. And just because a man treats a woman badly is no excuse for killing him. Travis Alexander may not have respected Jodi Arias outside the bedroom, and she may well have wanted more from their relationship than he was willing to offer her. But the only way to promote informed awareness of domestic abuse and intimate partner homicide is to recognize that sometimes the abusers are not men. Sometimes they're the victims.'