Quote:This sense of entitlement is common among abusers, though it isn’t entirely their fault. Men know that people like Maura Healey and Andrea Campbell don’t care about violence against women. They see all the dead bodies and they know that nobody’s talking about the issue. 22 Massachusetts women were killed by domestic abuse in 2024 – a 15% increase over the year before, and the numbers are on track to be even worse in 2025. But not one government official has spoken out.

Quote:In a recent case, the Supreme Judicial Court published shocking statistics showing that domestic violence is the most prevalent violent crime in every district court in Massachusetts. 70% of cases involve domestic abuse and almost all are dismissed or end with no serious punishment.

Abusive men know they will walk away scot-free if they harm women, so of course they keep doing it. No wonder Groom thought nothing of killing his pregnant girlfriend. He told cops he didn’t want her around. He said he was worried about the financial burden of a child. Why should he take responsibility for impregnating her when she could just get an abortion? How dare she impose fatherhood obligations on him.

Quote:There is something that we the people can do. A bill has been filed with the legislature that would amend our hate crime law to include women. Every other state in New England protects women, but Massachusetts does not. Our state covers every imaginable category, but not women. Even transgender is protected, so if a woman used to be a man, and she is killed, it’s a hate crime, but if she has always been a woman, it isn’t. Even if I beat you senseless while screaming “I am punching you in the face because you are female,” it’s not a hate crime. By refusing to include women, our government has declared as official state policy that it’s perfectly legal to target women for violence.

Adding women to the hate crime law will send a different message, and make clear to the citizens of Massachusetts that harming a woman because she is female is not only a crime against her, but is also a crime against women as a class, our  community as a whole, and democracy itself. Hate crimes are designed to recognize that we all have skin in the game when someone is hurt because of who they are in society.