Citation

Peled E. Violence Against Women 1997; 3(4): 424-446.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12349147

Abstract

This article presents a critical analysis of the battered women's movement (BWM) response to children of battered women in the US. Following a brief review of progress made in research from an intervention with children of battered women, 3 major issues are examined: 1) the perception of children as ¿secondary¿ victims; 2) woman battering and child abuse; and 3) battering men as fathers. The BWM is doing invaluable work to end children's exposure to violence directed at their mothers and to heal children who were already hurt by witnessing violence in their families. But the BWM can still help more children if it acknowledges these children as primary victims of the violence and treats them as a primary target population. Providing adequate services to children of battered women requires the practitioners involved to address, both in theory and practice, the difficult and complex issues of battered women who abuse their children and of perpetrator's relationships with their children. Furthermore, the BWM needs to coordinate a multisystem community response that attempts to change the society's attitudes toward violence and help victims/survivors of violence within a multitude of relevant social settings.

Language: en