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Cycle of Violence

Battered women who kill their abusers are being jailed

By Silja J.A. Talvi

When Maria Suarez was just 16 years old, the rural-Mexico-born teen-ager was sold for $200 to a 68-year-old Californian, Anselmo Covarrubias. The year was 1976. On her third day at Covarrubias’ home, still assuming she had been brought there to assist him in household chores and cooking, Suarez was raped by her employer. From that day forward, Suarez endured five… return to article

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