SAY SHE’S CRAZY AND WATCH THE COURTS IGNORE VIOLENCE AGAINST HER

3 Women 3 Ways

SAY SHE’S CRAZY AND WATCH THE COURTS IGNORE VIOLENCE AGAINST HER “She’s crazy, delusional, mentally ill (now that she’s divorcing me, but before she was just fine).” Funny how that seems to be the song abusers, judges, psychologists and other experts sing in divorce and custody battles. What’s with the gendered language, the pop psychology and, yes, let’s call it like it is – the ridiculous sexism that rears their ugly heads with regularity in our family courts? And why are so many people buying it? Suzanne Zaccour is a feminist author, activist and researcher doing a PhD in law at Oxford University. Her research interests include family law, rape law, domestic violence and non-sexist language. Her latest book, La fabrique du viol (Leméac 2019) tackles the social and political issues with rape culture after #MeToo. She’s made it her business to look at the language and the prejudices in the language that is used in family courts, and she joins us to discuss how language is used to discredit, vilify, and penalize women in divorce and custody cases.