Novo Foundation's Jesenia Santana Discusses the Dismissal of Domestic Violence and Its Effects in the Criminal Court System
Jesenia Santana is the program officer of the NoVo Foundation, which supports efforts to end violence against women and girls, and the co-chair of the Violence Against Women committee of the Coalition for Women Prisoners. For 11 years, she worked directly with domestic violence survivors in New York City whose entanglement in the court system stemmed directly from their abuse. This included survivors facing charges for defending themselves as well as those facing charges in connection with their abuser’s actions.
The adversarial nature of the criminal justice system often doesn’t allow prosecutors to explore nuances such as the effects of domestic violence on a person’s ability to act. As reported previously in Rewire, the trauma resulting from domestic violence can result in difficulty making decisions, difficulties in concentration, inattentiveness, emotional numbness, memory lapses, and withdrawal—actions that might be perceived by police and prosecutors as failure to take necessary steps to stop their abusers from other harmful deeds. In addition, abuse can compel survivors to avoid situations they perceive as dangerous, which can include placing themselves in potentially harmful situations by reporting those crimes...