Cleveland Women Face Murder Charges

When the frying pan came down hard on her left shoulder, just barely missing her head, Sharon knew that this battle was a matter of life and death. Fear surged through her body like a bolt of electricity. He had beaten her before and hurt her pretty badly, too, but this time seemed more intense. This time it seemed like it wasn't going to stop. This time she suddenly realized that she was going to die.

She had always thought this brutality would end some day--but not like this. She thought he would stop beating her if she could only keep things calm around the house. But somehow she always ended up doing something to set him off, and once again the rage would start--demented and without control. Panicked, Sharon picked up the gun that they always kept in the kitchen.

"If you don't stop, I'll shoot," she yelled. "So shoot me then, 'cuz I ain't gonna stop 'til one of us is dead," came the angry, confident reply.

He came at her then, frying pan raised, ready to strike again. She raised the gun and pulled the trigger and pulled it again, and again. At last, silence. But the panic was not gone. What would happen next? Who would listen? Who would believe her?

J

pation of that fact, a small committee has already begun to meet to plan ways of creating more understanding of the societal causes of violence against

women.

The committee is also searching for ways to raise money for a defense. There are a lot of expenses involved in organizing a strong legal case.

A few months ago the Plain Dealer ran an editorial concerning the plight of the battered woman. "When seemingly responsible women begin to describe murder as a serious and likely alternative to an abusive husband, it's time for this country to wake up," it said.

Shortly before that Georgie Anne Geyer, a nationally syndicated columnist, had written, "There is not one woman I know whose rage (about rape and related offenses) is not so high that she has not come to the conclusion that she will kill her assailant if

she can." Strong words from an otherwise relatively conservative, white, middle-class journalist.

And it is happening. Women are doing more than just talking or writing about it; they are defending themselves against deadly, violent assaults, and... they are being charged with murder.

--Jeanne Van Atta

ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TIME, ENERGY OR MONEY TO THE DEFENSE COMMITTEE CAN DO SO BY CALLING:

MaryJo Ginty, 631-3556 (Director, WomenTogether)

Jeanne Van Atta, 391-3912 (Education Coordinator, Rape Crisis Center)

Jane Campbell, 696-3100 (Director, WomenSpace)

ANTI-GORILLA TACTICS

Last fall we received a photo of the Cambridge Coatings billboard which we published in our October issue. Since that time, the feminist community has confronted Cambridge in two separate actions. The following letter was sent by the Rape Crisis Center to the President of Cambridge Coatings. The letter was preceded by some more direct action by an anonymous group of women. That action is described in the article following the letter, which we received from the participants in the action.

2. A meeting with representatives of our organi. zation with the executives from your company to discuss your policies regarding the use of women in your advertising.

If we do not hear from you within one week of the date of this letter we will assume that you are not planning to meet our demands and we will act accordingly. If you would like to let Cambridge Coatings know how you feel about their advertising, call them at their main office: 475-3800. The more calls they get, the more likely they are to respond to our demands.

In Cleveland, there are now three women who have been charged with murder for defending themselves against violent attacks. Two of the women suffered from severe beatings over a long period of time at the hands of the man they eventually had to kill in order to survive. The third was raped, beaten, and threatened by a man whom she thought she could

trust.

While evidence of past beatings and/or rape have helped a few well publicized cases result in verdicts of not guilty, the legal road before these women is most uncertain. A woman's right to defend herself against a violent assault of any kind is still considered to be a highly controversial and debatable issue.

Often the question becomes reduced to such offer. ings as "women like to be beaten, or "man's home is his castle" (the latter quoted from a Domestic Relations judge in Cleveland).

As many women have learned, defending oneself can become a Catch-22 situation. The police won't come, the courts won't listen, and the laws don't help. Yet when a woman takes the matter into her own hands, when there is no help available anywhere else, she suddenly finds herself taken into the very system which has previously ignored her..

It is going to take a lot of careful public education to assure that all of these women are tried fairly for the crimes they are accused of committing. In antici-

President

Cambridge Coatings, Inc.

5461 Dunham rd.

Maple Hts, OH 44137

Dear People:

The staff of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center would like to let you know that we find your advertising to be very offensive to women and to all people.

Studies show that rapists do not regard the persons they assault as human. It is much easier to hurt an object than a person, and this is part of the mental process that a rapist experiences.

It is our opinion, based on considerable experience, that advertising such as yours encourages and perpetuates the existence of rape.

What your billboard with its apes says, is that, "We have paint, ladders, wallpaper and a passive piece of ass to decorate your home or office." Consider how you would feel about a picture of female animals carrying a partially clad, unconscious male and comparing him to'a can of paint.

Not only are these attitudes held by men who rape, but by those who work to keep women from achieving positions of power or control in society or in their own lives.

Women are no longer willing to stand back and allow degrading and insulting advertising to continue. In order to make sure that this happens we are currently contacting other organizations in the city and asking that they call and talk to you about your advertising policies. We are sending photographs of the billboard to local and national publications. A copy of this letter has been sent to a national organization which monitors advertisers' use of violence against women. (Women Against Violence Against Women, 1172 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90019).

In order for us to stop our campaign against you and your company we want the following from you:

1. Immediate removal of the offensive billboards.

From the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Against Violence to Women in Media

The Charge:

Who: Cambridge Coating and Decorating Company, 2050 Lee Road, 25170 Lorain Avenue. Marvin Goldlust, President; Sidney Goldlust, advertising (the Goldlust boys).

What: Blatant violence against women to sell paint. Specifically, a billboard showing a mate painter progressively becoming more ape-like until he is a huge gorilla carrying off a frail woman who has fainted in his arms.

When: The obnoxious billboard was first seen on continued on page 3

March, 1978/What She Wants/Page 1