Obsession,
With Intent is an investigative
report into one hundred cases of violence against
women; in all cases the women tried to get help from
the system. It is a harrowing account of individual
women's stories, their understanding of the danger
they faced, their attempts to get help, the
incompetence and/or indifference they met, and, in
those cases where someone was willing to prosecute,
their vulnerability under/within the law. It reviews
911 procedure, from how the emergency operator
evaluates the call, to the police (how, or if, they
collect evidence), to prosecuting attorney, to court,
to sentencing.
Among
the many narratives are "domestic dispute"
cases, sexual assault cases, and cases of murder. The
landmark decision, in the case of Jane Doe who fought
for and won the right to sue the Toronto police force
for the way in which they routinely dealt with rape
victims is examined, as are a number of sexual
assault cases--some high profile, some occurring more
than forty years ago. Accounts of the serial killers
Bernardo and Pickton are chilling, as are the other
numerous accounts of impending murder. (As early as
1997 Picton had been charged with confining, and
repeatedly stabbing, Wendy Lynn Eisteler, but charges
were dropped and Picton released; the prosecutor
judged that there was no likelihood of a
conviction--the victim was "a drug-addicted
prostitute." Thirty more women would die.)
Recognizing
that violence against women is one of the strongest
indicators of prevailing societal attitudes towards
women, Obsession, With Intent
screams out for social change regarding violence
against women at the individual, the institutional,
and the political level.
Lee
Lakeman works at the Vancouver Rape Relief and
Women's Shelter. She has organized Take Back the
Night marches, neighborhood confrontations of abusive
men, and anti-violence lobbies petitioning government
representatives. She is a contributor to Not
For Sale: Preventing the Promotion of Prostitution.
256
pages, 6x9, references, bibliography, index
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-262-X $24.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-263-8 $53.99
Table of Contents
Feminist Studies
August
2005
