Despite the huge advancements of the feminist movement, domestic violence is the one area where women, when cast in the role of perpetrator, are not treated equally. Female aggression gets swept under the carpet, treated as if it's either too small a problem to worry about or that it simply doesn't exist. Violence is not the sole domain of men. Women have proven themselves to be just as violent, manipulative and cunning as men - if not more so. Society has consistently worked to hide, deny and excuse the very existence of violence in women. Domestic violence shelters often won't accept men who come looking for help in escaping abusive relationships, and many even refuse help to lesbian partners of violent women. Mothers who murder their children and wives who murder their husbands are often painted as victims during court proceedings. The media spotlight that washes over such cases often makes it seem as though these violent women are an aberration. The truth is that not only do women have a long and rich history of violence, but we've been responsible for some of the most prolific murderers in history as well a lion's share of child abuse cases.

Wicked Women
Women who hurt, maim and kill have peppered our history, though we've chosen to let the sands of time cover them over until they turn into hazy recollections whilst their male counterparts become indelibly burned into our collective memory. From the 15th Century Countess Elisabeth Bathory (responsible for the death of hundreds of peasant girls to death so she could bathe in their blood) to Belle Guiness of Chicago (convicted in 1908 of killing 40 men and 4 children), all the way to the now infamous Aileen Wuornos (often mistakenly labelled as America's first female serial killer), women have proven themselves time and again to be dangerous, manipulative and violent.

Women have also been partners in some notoriously violent and fatal couplings. Bonny and Clyde forged a reputation as trigger happy bank robbers until they were gunned down in 1934. In the 1950's Caril Ann Fugate joined her boyfriend, Charlie Starkweather, in a nine day orgy of violence that left 7 people dead, among them Caril Ann's own family. But, as most women will tell you, a woman doesn't need a man. The 1930s also saw Winnie Judd murder her two roommates before dismembering them and packing them in a trunk she shipped to Los Angeles, where it was discovered. The 1950's witnessed the violent death of Mabel Monohan, an invalid, by Barbara Graham, who had been burglarising the woman's home and beat the woman to death with the butt of a gun.

When murderous women do find themselves standing trial for their crimes, they often have a plethora of pre-fabricated excuses at their disposal. Shortly after Guinevere Garcia was released for an Illinois state prison in 1991 for the smothering death of her 11 month old daughter, she murdered her husband, George. She was tried and sentenced to death for the crime, a sentence she accepted and denied any appeals on her behalf, telling the prison review board, "[Do not] ... attempt to justify my actions as that of an abused woman. There is a lot of rage built up inside me and if I am released ... that rage will present itself again."

In spite of her admission of guilt and acceptance of her sentence, Garcia found herself fighting in court for the right to have her sentence carried out, locking horns with Amnesty International, whose lawyer Jed Stone characterized Garcia as a "pitiful, tormented creature". NPR went as far as to claim she was "not capable of choosing her own fate". As petitions poured in begging the courts to show mercy on Garcia, she rallied against them, telling the court "I killed George Garcia and only I know why. Do not generically label, package and attempt to justify my actions..."

Bianca Jagger was sent to the prison board by Amnesty International, a move which made Garcia bitterly spit, "This must be her cause of the week instead of the Screen Actor's Guild or cruelty to animals." Try as she might to be treated equally and to gracefully accept the sentence which has been handed down, special interest groups refused to allow it. Instead of reporting the story of a woman who not only openly admitted to her crimes, but who was also willing to accept her fate without all the theatrics and court clogging last minute pleas that seem to accompany so many crimes, they chose to depict Garcia as someone less than human, someone who clearly couldn't think rationally and make decisions about her own life. She was, after all, a woman. On January 16, 1996 Guinevere Garcia lost her bid for execution when Illionis state governor Jim Edgar commuted her sentence to life, citing evidence of impulse murder. He did go on to correctly reject the argument that she was a victim of battered woman's syndrome.

Female Serial Killers
The idea of female serial killers has always been an area of debate among those who study the subject of violence. The answer to whether or not female serial killers exists is a resounding yes ... and no. The FBI definition for serial killer is someone who kills three or more people, with an emotional cooling off period between each murder. Using this definition, there's no debate. First there are mothers and wives like Belle Guiness. After a fire ravaged her Chicago home in 1908, more than a dozen bodies were found on her property. Most of her victims were potential husbands and hired hands whose deaths had allowed Belle to cash in on life insurance policies and empty their bank accounts. Belle had also insured her two children before killing and burying them along with her other victims. And then there are nurses like Anna Marie Hahn who, during the 1930's murdered at least eleven elderly men in her care after gaining access to their money by being written into wills, obtaining loans or simply stealing it.

There are those who say that in order for a series of crimes to be classified as serial murder there has to be the presence of "sadistic, sexual overtones", a qualifier put forth by the National Institute of Justice in 1988. Even with this additional criteria, numerous women still qualify. As early as the sixteenth century, Elizabeth Bathory, "The Blood Countess", is reputed to have slain over 600 peasant girls for her own sadistic pleasure, including her desire to bathe in their blood. Contemporary murderesses include England's own Rosemary West who was convicted of the sexual torture and grisly murders of ten victims, including her own daughter.

Mommy Dearest
But if women are a minority in the realm of serial murder, they are without a doubt the dominant group in infanticide. Mothers murder their children at an alarming rate. A 1994 report issues by the US Justice Department entitled 'Murder in Families' claimed that mothers were more likely to instigate a crime involving a child homicide, making up 55% of the perpetrators who kill their offspring. A 1989 study by the National Institute of Mental Health reported that in America two million men are abused each year by their female partners. And in certain areas of child abuse, namely Neonatacide and Muchausen By Proxy, women are responsible for almost all crimes.

In 1994, Susan Smith became the poster woman for mothers who kill. That October, Susan and her husband, David, were appearing on every television stations and newspapers across America. Susan claimed she had been car jacked, and her attacker had taken off with her two sons, Alex (14 months) and Michael (3 years), still strapped securely in the backseat. For more than a week, America was saturated with news about the missing boys. For nine days Susan Smith appeared on countless TV programs, local news programs and in newspaper stories begging for the return of her two boys, claiming 'Whoever did this is a sick and emotionally unstable person.' Then, on November 3, 1995, Smith finally admitted the truth, that she was, in fact, the 'sick and emotionally unstable person' who had committed the ultimate crime. She had driven her sons to John D. Long Lake in South Carolina intending to kill herself and her children. She'd driven the car to the boat ramp near the lake, put the car in neutral and had begun to let it roll towards the lake. Along the way, she had engaged the emergency break and stopped the car three separate times before finally stepping out of the car and taking off the emergency break for the last time. She stood on the boat deck and watched as her car rolled into the lake with her two toddlers strapped securely into their car seats. Smith was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.

Mothers who murder their children are common enough, but women who abuse their children are the status quo. A 2000 report filed by the US Department of Health and Human Services found that mothers acting alone accounted for 47% of neglect victims and 32% of physical abuse victims and that women accounted for 60% of all child abuse perpetrators.

Now husbands are beginning to speak up about the abuse many of them suffer at the hands of their wives every day. While there's no denying that men continue to claim responsibility for the majority of domestic violence arrests and incidents, the difference between men and women in this respect is that men TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

Rehabilitation programs for violent male offenders have cropped up prolifically along the cultural landscape, precious few exist for women. This lack of help undermines the role of women as violent offenders and fosters an attitude of denial and acceptance. It's time for women to stand up and take responsibility for our role as violent offenders. We need to expand our horizons and extend help to women who find themselves abusing those they love and have no place to turn. Female offenders are without the same resources, programs and facilities that help their male counterparts and, as a result, are left feeling isolated and alone, which leads to them becoming increasingly angry, ensuring their cycle of violence never stops.

Being a woman in Western society is a unique challenge and one our gender has time and time again risen to. But, after seeing the data on violence in women, the most important thing we can do as a gender is to accept our role of responsibility in domestic violence, not hide behind the same old tired and worn arguments that have managed to turn the problem of violence into a male issue. We, as women, must be willing to admit to our own gender's dark side and work to change them, before we will ever be considered truly equal.