8. CONCLUSIONS

Well behaved women rarely make history.
­ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

The radical assumption throughout this paper is that women's lives matter. Developing the proof for this thesis has required digging deep for truth and emerging invigorated to proclaim that which should have been self-evident since God created woman and man: that the first couple were created in God's image.

This study has excavated the manifold roots of violence against women in religions, history, and the community. It concludes by claiming that women should have the tools and help we need to rethink our lives in peace. The truths tucked within this paper begin and end with the same notion: How we think about a problem affects its solutions. Humans were born equipped to achieve a peaceful and healthful existence for themselves, but they have not always had enough support or empowerment to see their vision through.

We must ask how the movement against domestic violence can replicate the success of the anti-smoking, anti-fat, and anti-carb campaigns and also how new initiatives might point out workplace costs on account of domestic violence.

With so many voices competing to be heard, it may take considerably more time and effort to come closer to the ideal of peace on Earth. Suzanne Pharr wisely notes, "It is virtually impossible to view one oppression, such as sexism, racism, homophobia, classism. To understand the connection among the oppressions, we must first examine their common elements. It is important to remember that an established norm does not necessarily represent a majority in terms of numbers; it represents those who have ability to exert power and control over others." (Pharr 1988, 53)

What if we could begin by unlearning some of capitalist culture's most cherished notions, including the notion that some deserve more than others? What all battered women want is peace. Members of the feminist community recognize this and work for peace all the time.
As mentioned before, a vigil for peace in all families was held in Bangor on March 16, 2004. About twenty people answered the call to attend the event titled "Breaking the Silence ... Exposing the Darkness." Francine Stark of the Spruce Run Association has been working the domestic violence scene for more than twenty years. Where others in her shoes might be frustrated that domestic abuse still exists, Stark finds hope in groups, such as the one in Bangor, standing together to challenge the status quo.

"Widespread violence compels us to stand together," she said. "When we stop and consider losing a loved one to domestic violence, it leads us to stand for a change in community attitudes. It's a moral struggle to make correct choices. All who are here with us form a circle of conscience."
Outside the church's walls in the community Stark has witnessed changes in the air. When she first started worked with Spruce Run about two decades ago, many people would ask about an abused woman, "Why doesn't she just leave?" Now, Stark says, doctors who care for battered women no longer just prescribe antidepressants, they also call Spruce Run.

This move toward breaking the silence and shining light on the darkness in homes where abuse is the norm, remains a work in progress. This is true for most other campaigns for justice. Stark has good reason to be hopeful that one day, she will have much less work to do at the battered woman's support association. Mining women's history, including the effort to win access to the ballot box in a non-violent campaign that lasted nearly one hundred years stands as testimony to women's strength and perseverance when liberty, peace and justice demand it. That one campaign shows how a well-intentioned group of women (and some male allies) can alter for the better the future of half the nation's population.

Even that hard-won right and changes in the perception of women's right to self determination, here and beyond, demand that women never stop agitating for equality and for peace. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony dedicated more then fifty years of their lives to abolitionist and suffrage causes, but they did not live long enough to legally cast a ballot.