HerStory is Our Story

By Demyia Pridgen, Program Manager, ICCR & NTC

Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate women’s achievements and contributions to society. We look back at the struggles they endured to remember the progress we’ve made. We should neither minimize nor rewrite history to make it more palatable for those who refuse to accept the fact that our road to justice was paved by blood, sweat, and tears. It was at times ugly; this fight was not pretty just because it was led by women, for “well-behaved women seldom make history” (Ulrich).1 They rolled up their sleeves, got their hands dirty, and brought their own chairs when women had no seats at the table. The erasure of the past will only make us susceptible to repeating those same mistakes, so we remember the beginnings of a movement that opened the doors of equality.   

In ancient Rome, men were regarded as the unchallenged head of their households and given absolute power over their wives and children. Roman law stated that husbands could sell, beat, or disown their wives if they offended their husbands, who also had the power to kill their wives for adultery.2 The rise of Christianity and the early Catholic Church would hold Biblical principles of marriage that proclaimed husbands as judges over their wives, giving them authority to discipline out of concern for their spiritual well-being. Interpretations of the Bible, rigid gender roles, and the structure of family life would follow the Puritans, who settled in North America and would be the justification for spiritual abuse and the subjugation of women that would persist for centuries.2  

In March 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a famous letter to her husband, John Adams, urging the members of the Continental Congress to “Remember the Ladies” in framing the Declaration of Independence. She wrote, “If particular care and attention are not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.3” Although he would not heed her words, her advocacy for greater political rights would be one of the first steps toward equal rights. In the 1824 case, Bradley vs. State, Mississippi’s Supreme Court allowed a husband to administer “moderate chastisement in case of emergencies.4” Thus warranting spousal abuse to punish wives for subjective wrongdoing or to protect the husband from his wife’s wrongdoing.  

However, we would begin to see change. In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention. With fellow suffragist and friend Susan B. Anthony, the two women would unify the movement, dedicating their lives to fighting for equality. “Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry,” wrote Anthony.7  In 1871, Alabama became the first state to rescind the legal right of men to beat their wives, with Maryland following eleven years later by becoming the first state to make wife beating a crime in 1882.5 

The pivotal year of 1919 marks the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. During the 1960s and 1970s, women continued to galvanize their cause and raise their voices to keep gender-based rights in the social and political landscape, forming the first and second waves of feminism as well as the battered women’s movement. Congress ultimately passed laws, including Title VII and Title IX, prohibiting discrimination against women in employment and higher education. Feminist and gay rights activist Del Martin published Battered Wives in 1976, which explored the dynamics of domestic violence. Pioneer Ellen Pence founded the esteemed Duluth Model in 1980, which is highly regarded as the blueprint interagency approach to tackling domestic violence. Pence also designed the widely used power and control wheel, a fundamental training tool that describes the varied tactics of an abuser.6 The brevity of a timeline could never fully encompass all the progress we’ve made. We commemorate these women and countless more for their devotion and sacrifices.  

The Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW) is a part of Women’s History Month. What started in 2005 with hundreds of attendees has grown to thousands from all 50 states and 11 countries/territories with over 250 workshops. This year, we celebrate 20 years of immeasurable impact as a premier event and knowledge-sharing platform committed to the fight against violence that curtails these advancements in women’s rights while continuing to pave the way for a better tomorrow. Honoring the legacy of CCAW’s contribution, our Founder, Jan Langbein, and Executive Director, Becky Park, were invited to the White House to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, a landmark piece of legislature to combat gender-based violence and sexual assault while providing services for victims and training to practitioners. The Conference on Crimes Against Women is an essential part of this movement with a lofty goal: To secure a future where our daughters can grow up in a world without violence. We realize that our history is not written for us but by us; therefore, we raise the voices of our foremothers’ war cry and continue to bravely pen the pages of HerStory. Join us at CCAW 2025. Our work is not finished, so don’t miss being a part of history in the making.  

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References

1. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. (2008). Well-behaved women seldom make history. Vintage Books.
2. Fader, S. (2021, January 29). A History of Domestic Violence: How Much Have Things Changed? | Betterhelp. Www.betterhelp.com; BetterHelp. https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/domestic-violence/a-history-of-domestic-violence-how-much-have-things-changed/
3. Massachusetts Historical Society. (2019). Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March – 5 April 1776. Masshist.org. https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760331aa
4. Domestic Violence Timeline. (n.d.). Www.pacwrc.pitt.edu; The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center. https://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/Curriculum/310DomesticViolenceIssuesAnIntroductionforChildWelfareProfessionals/Handouts/HO3DomesticViolenceTimeline.pdf
5. Orloff, L., & Feldman, P. (2016). Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Public Policy Timeline Highlighting Accomplishments on Behalf Of Immigrants and Women of Color 1. https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/wp-content/uploads/Herstory-2024.pdf
6. Bindel, J. (2012, January 19). Ellen Pence obituary. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/jan/19/ellen-pence
7. https://www.womenon20s.org/susan_b_anthony