Women's Issues & Law

The other day in class I never felt the under lying current of law being male dominated until our class discussion revolved around prosecuting domestic violence. The discussion was whether or not we should do it since women often times recant their stories by the time of trial. The men in the room were saying it wasn't worth the expense of trial and since he would likely get off than he is likely to do it again b/c he believes he can.
I was attempted to explain how it would be a deterrent. That the message would get out that the community doesn't tolerant violence in relationships. Men would be afraid of the consequences. I demonstrated how date rapes were hard to prosecute but in communities in which they are prosecuted word gets out and date rapes decrease.
My words fell on deaf ears. My message made no sense to the men in the room and since the class is male dominated the consensus was that prosecutors should not go after the violent actor. I have never felt so frustrated with a class than I did that day. In essence the room full of men would not take the time to prosecute men in domestic violence if they became prosecutors. No wonder we still have women getting beat up in communities.