Tracie Andrews released from jail after serving 14 years for killing Lee Harvey

[rainbowtoenails]

I cant do a link to the news reports on this from my phone but I'm sure someone else can do that.

I saw Lee's parents on This Morning today. It is very sad that they have suffered the awful loss of their son and I can see why they feel let down by a justice system where life does not mean life.

But, looking at this case with a feminist gaze I cant help but make comparisons with other intimate partner killings. Mostly committed by men, these other cases Ive heard of rarely end up with a sentence of as long as 14 years. It reminds me of what I read ages ago in Helena Kennedy's 'Eve was Framed' that the justice system is harder on women than men for the same crimes. Im not saying that TA should have been let out sooner but that people of both genders who commit these crimes should be given equally long sentences.

"why the media is more likely to report violent crimes committed by women"

I'm not sure this is the case - do you have any proof (genuinely curious, not dismissive)? Where violent female crimes are reported, they're usually a man-bites-dog story, and thus attract undue interest due to their rarity, perhaps? I remember that one recently involving the woman setting a guy's dick alight - even here on MN, people thought that was an amusing 'and finally...' type story. I can't think of many examples where female on male violence was presented seriously.

Rarity value is what I suspect is the case, yes ('value' seems wholly wrong, but it's late). As to the other point, it's amazing how often you still see a woman kicking a man between the legs presented as a moment of comedy on tv... This came up on the Rebekah Brooks thread; she'd punched Ross Kemp during a fight and she subsequently made a joke of it at a public speaking event she was at! I have a very good friend who was married to a violent man and after hearing her (late-night-with-wine kitchen discussions) accounts of it I wince whenever I encounter DV - to me it's no different whomever commits it. But that's the double-standard hypocrisy that is so often on here and drags me, infuriated, out of my lurker status into scatter-gun rants.

I totally agree, jvtw. Female-on-male DV is widely ignored, and where it does come up lots of people, even on MN, try to rationalise it because he must have deserved it somehow, right? Unfortunately, if you raise the double-standard on this board especially, you risk being run out of town for 'supporting the menz' or being a MRA. Sigh.

Been there :( Sigh.

Where SGM? I don't believe you.

The outcomes for male victims of domestic violence by females are very different from those of female victims domestic violence by men.

On topic - I think this is a bit of a stretch, OP

SGM of course, police/Home Office reports will only reflect reported incidents of F-on-M DV - what about unreported cases? The comments on this story show that there is at least a lot of anecdotal evidence about female DV.

no it isn't SGM and back at you - just because you say it is etc etc... There is no statistical evidence to say that women recieve longer sentences for comparable crimes. You've MADE IT UP

I think that sometimes looking at crimes and criminal trials through a 'feminist gaze' can mean refusing to accept that some women are horrible people who do bad things.

"women charged with violent crimes are more likely to receive longer sentences than men"

Do you have a source for that?

SGM your easily-googleable sources seem to have dried up. Some feminist polemic (which probably does no more than you've just done) and an oblique reference to some Home Office reports.

There is NO evidence and you MADE IT UP.

Sorry SGM but you don't get away with it that easy. You said with utter conviction that women recieve longer custodial sentences than men and this is simply not the case. You can try and avoid the topic now by dismissing my presence and credibility - and by the way the only name calling is contained in your last post - but the fact remains that you state as fact things that are untrue.

So, no, I don't believe you, and therein lies the difference: if you swallow every piece of hackneyed rubbish that fits your world-view whilst I question it, it's not me that ends up looking ridiculous is it?

... and no, there's nothing in the link you gave to support your argument. I thought you said it was easy to google?

Again, nice try, but you can't really rely on this book; the existance of a book that someone once wrote is meaningless.

What Home Office reports? Do they exist? Where are they? You said they were easy to google, but I can't find them...

Oh, so the onus is not on you to prove that your assertion of gender imbalance is true, but rather on me to prove that it isn't true. I can't prove to you that the moon doesn't have a London Bus on it either SGM.

Really, all this wriggling on the hook is most unedifying... Patronise me all you want, but you made it up.