Sudbury Response

Justifiable homicide is a rare ruling to come by, even in the context of the modern court. It is especially pertinent in immigrant communities and communities of color wherein not fitting the right criteria, leaves women who defend themselves against violence, vulnerable. Zoora Shah, a woman who was sexually, emotionally, and physically abused, poisoned her abuser and rather than being seen as a victim or justified, she was painted as a violent and manipulative killer.

 The story of Zoora is highlighted throughout Julia Sudbury’s (2014) Rethinking Antiviolence Strategies: Lessons From the Black Women’s Movement in Britain. Julia Sudbury’s pointing to the image created of Zoora led me to think of how often women, especially women of color are often painted in a negative light in cases of violence. Even when defending themselves against perpetual or individual incidents of violence, rather than being seen as a victim or assault defending themselves against a perpetrator, they themselves, become the perpetrator. Zoora was vulnerable and taken advantage of and in order to defend her daughter, she did what she felt needed to be done. Because of a system of white supremacy, xenophobia, and misogyny, rather than her poisoning her abuser being seen as justifiable, she was seen as a cold-blooded killer.

 As was previously stated, we see this kind of ruling often in cases where women of color act on defense against violence. The 2006 Greenwich Village assault case, while in and of an entirely different context than the case of Zoora, we see an overlap in the negative press created surrounding the defendants. The four women, charged with assault were painted as being a “violent lesbian gang” and “out for blood” (Doroshwather 2014). Much like Zoora, we see that the women because of their status as non-white are painted as violent criminals, but unlike Zoora, this was also due to their status as non-heterosexual. Being the deviation from the norm results in sanctions like prison time.

 Growing up white and born in the country I currently reside in, I don’t really have a personal understanding pertaining to my own experiences about the violence a woman of color faces by both individuals and states. W.E.B Dubois once said “your blues ain’t like my blues” (Qtd. in Walter and Chung 2000: 802). When he said this, he was referring to the fact someone’s who is white can never really understand his struggle, due to being a black man. I can try at most to sympathize and even, empathize with these women but at the end of the day I have a privilege of not knowing what it’s like to feel unsafe within my own environment and having no one in my corner.

 QUESTION: Think of the last case of violent crime you’ve heard of ending in a defense ruling. How long ago was this and what was the context of the act?