by Ruth Hull

International women's day march

In Los Angeles, women march in support of their very right to live while families of those killed by police violence speak out and the case against Chris Dorner continues to collapse.

On March 9, 2013 WORD (Women Organized to Resist and Defend) with the assistance of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition and other human rights groups, rallied and marched to protest violence against women in Los Angeles. A rally with powerful speeches was followed by a march from Hollywood and Vine to Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Chants included, “Stop the rape and stop the violence; we know the truth; we won’t be silenced,” and “Wherever we go, whatever we wear, ‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and ‘no’ means ‘no.’”

While America invests in cancer and heart research, it ignores the number one cause of death and injuries to women between the ages of 15 and 44 and leaves this lethal epidemic free to slaughter at will. That number one killer is domestic violence, which takes more than 46 (not 3 or 4) lives every day. Most organizations only count convictions. The annual rate of intimate partner homicides, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is 16,800. The vast majority of domestic violence incidents are never reported. Even when they are, law enforcement is reluctant to treat domestic violence deaths as homicides. Therefore, this 46 daily number is believed to be only a minute fraction of the actual number domestic violence deaths that take place in America on a daily basis.

When it comes to domestic violence, restraining orders are hard to get. When they are obtained, they are rarely, if ever, enforced. I have seen officers laugh when child sexual abuse is reported and say that a child is being obnoxious (towards the perpetrator, her father) for reporting violent beatings, the use of deadly weapons and torture. Too often, especially in California, victims of domestic violence are treated as criminals for daring to tell the truth. Those marching knew all too well the dangers and realities of the complete failure of legislators, law enforcement and judges to help crimes victims.

Two victims pictured below filed actions alleging extreme abuse by two violent perpetrators. One (30-2011-00504154, Orange County, CA) died before the case could be heard. The other (30-2012-00556116, Orange County, CA) continues to be in fear for her life.

While everywhere the marchers looked, they could see police watching them, victims of police violence showed true courage. A number of families had lost brothers, uncles, and sons to police shootings and tasings. Each of the boys killed committed no crime and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Among those who were represented by their families were Michael Nida (an unarmed man sub-machine-gunned in the back by a Downey police officer), Martin Hernandez (shot in the head by the Anaheim police for hanging out with the wrong friends), and Javier Arrazola (another unarmed man tased to death by the L.A.P.D.) In these cases, the police shot or tased the innocent boys before asking questions. This was also the case with two women Emma Hernandez (age 71) and Maggie Carranza (age 47), who are lucky to survive being shot by police after being mistaken for Chris Dorner (a big Black guy).

While the police were present, this writer questioned the officers about the procedure with respect to what happens to the badge and uniform after when an officer is terminated. Chris Dorner had lost his position years before his alleged vendetta but the supposed finding of his badge and uniform in dumpsters at the San Diego airport near Harbor Island and in National City spawned a claim that he traveled to those places. The answer of what happens to these items was unanimous, including from the lead officer at the march (Captain Hayakawa). Chris Dorner would have had to turn them in at the termination hearing. Captain Hayakawa revealed that, if the officer was not forthcoming with these items, they would go to his house to get them back. The firearm would have also been turned in at the same time. The officer who would have received these would have been Captain Phil Tingirides the Chairman of the Board of Rights that terminated Chris Dorner’s position with the L.A.P.D in 2009. Phil Tingirides also lives down the street from the first two victims killed, two victims who were not on the L.A.P.D. (The vendetta was supposed to be against officers on the L.A.P.D.). If Dorner had turned in his badge and uniform, then someone else (with access to confiscated police property) placed them in the dumpster(s). That means someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look as if Chris Dorner had gone to the San Diego area. If Dorner were guilty, why would someone with access to police property have had to plant evidence? See the previous articles about the falsification of the manifesto and the unlikelihood that Dorner killed Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence.

Though people involved in the march came from different backgrounds, there was a widespread conception throughout the crowd that law enforcement was a major part of the problem perpetuating violence against the innocent, particularly violence against innocent women. The Violence against Women Act is little more than a placebo that fails to address the real issues driving the problem of domestic violence into escalating conditions of epidemic proportions. While violent men often have money, power,;law enforcement officers, judges and legislators in their pockets, women have nothing but unenforced laws for comfort.and no place to turn for help. Women have returned to ground zero when it comes to the most important of all rights: the right to live and right to be safe. The Government has let women down. The courts have let women down. The police have let women down. American society has let women down. Now women are saying it’s time to take back our rights.

The responsibility for ending violence against women rests with everyone. As Eric Contreras pointed out, violence is not natural. It a learned behavior. With one in every three men engaging in domestic violence at some point, there must be some very bad teachers (and I'm not talking about educators) out there in our society. The blame can't be with the victim, who is too often on the floor trying to figure out how to keep breathing as she prepares to cover up the bruises while saving the lives of others threatened by the guy who was just stomping on her abdomen and/or rib cage after smashing her face. If you are a father, it is your responsibility to show your son how to treat women. "Little boys who grow up in homes where domestic violence is occurring are 100 times more likely to become abusers than boys in violence-free homes. " Violence Against Women: Victims of the System (Washington D.C.: U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.. A sign Eric Contreras wrote from his heart, says it all.

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Ruth Hull is an activist and writer whose career has included work as a criminal defense attorney, a licensed private investigator, and an educator.