[I]n between approving city expenditures and other routine agenda items, the Topeka, Kansas City Council debated one rather controversial one: decriminalizing domestic violence…. Last month, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, facing a 10% budget cut, announced that the county would no longer be prosecuting misdemeanors, including domestic violence cases, at the county level. Finding those cases suddenly dumped on the city and lacking resources of their own, the Topeka City Council is now considering repealing the part of the city code that bans domestic battery…. Since the county stopped prosecuting the crimes on September 8th, it has turned back 30 domestic violence cases. Sixteen people have been arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and then released from the county jail after charges weren’t filed. “Letting abusive partners out of jail with no consequences puts victims in incredibly dangerous positions,” said Becky Dickinson of the YWCA. “The abuser will often become more violent in an attempt to regain control.”
I understand that governments- particularly at the state and local level- are faced with some difficult choices these days. As the economy spirals ever further in a southerly direction, tax receipts continue to dwindle and, unlike the federal government, running a deficit isn’t an option. That being said, how is it that public safety isn’t a top priority in Topeka? How is it that decriminalizing domestic violence is even under consideration? What thinking person with even the barest shred of humanity could possibly think that not protecting vulnerable women is a sensible move?
I wonder how many women will have to die at the hands of abusive partners before the Topeka City Council comes to their senses? Are we really destined to live in a world in which women are considered to be the property of men and that domestic violence isn’t a public safety concern? If we cannot find it within ourselves to protect women who, for whatever reason, may find themselves trapped in violent and abusive relationships, then why don’t we just drop the charade and admit that women are now considered the property of men?
