 SANTA CLARA CO., Calif. (KCBS) -- A first of a kind study that has just been completed on women behind bars in Santa Clara County offers a rare profile of incarcerated women.
There are many studies of women in state and federal prisons, but far less is known about female offenders in county jails.
”Eighty-five percent of the women in jail in Santa Clara County are victims of domestic violence,” said Esther Peralez Dieckmann with the county’s Office of Women’s Policy, who led the 16-month study. “Quite a few of those women were also victims of abuse as children, both physical and sexual abuse. So there’s definitely a cycle of violence that has followed these women into adulthood. We also know that many of the women in our county jail are repeat offenders, with 42 percent of them reporting having been in jail five times or more.”
That certainly was the case with 45-year-old Victoria Kirschner, who’s spent most of her adult life in and out of jail on drug charges.
”My behavior was abusive and that escalated to things,” said Kirschner. “When you don’t know how to be polite and treat a person with respect, then the next phase is violence.”
Since leaving Elmwood five years ago, Kirschner says she’s been clean and sober, and currently works as a limo driver.
(MGO) |
KCBS' Mike Colgan reports
