title: Battered mothers speak out: participatory human rights documentation as a model for research and activism in the United States.
abstract: This article describes the work of the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project, a multiyear effort that documented human rights violations against battered women and their children in the Massachusetts family court system. This article (a) presents the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project's participatory human rights methodology as an alternative model for research and activism on violence against women and children in the United States, (b) summarizes the authors' findings and human rights analysis of how the Massachusetts family courts handled custody and visitation in specified cases involving partner and child abuse, and (c) discusses U.S. obligations under international human rights law and the value of a human rights approach to violence against women and children in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Planned Parenthood of Collier County, Naples, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Kim Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Slote
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cuthbert
authors.forename: Cynthia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Mesh
authors.forename: Monica G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Driggers
authors.forename: Lundy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bancroft
authors.forename: Jay G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Silverman
mesh_terms: D018585:Battered Women / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002651:Child Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards; D002655:Child Custody / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D004243:Divorce / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D009035:Mothers / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011640:Public Policy; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014481:United States; D016387:Women's Health; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards