Photojournalist takes on domestic violence

Domestic violence is a preventable crime that relates directly to power and control, said award-winning photojournalist Donna Ferrato in a lecture at CSUS on Oct. 5.

Ferrato, a photojournalist for 20 years, addressed a mostly female audience, and said that we can't do anything to save another person, but we can educate ourselves on the realities of domestic violence, speak out about it, and make it a public issue.

"The enemy is domestic violence," she said.

Women suffering in abusive relationships, which Ferrato calls "private wars," must realize that no one deserves to be physically abused, and help is available for those willing to seek it.

During the 1980s, Ferrato was accused of fabricating her stories of real women suffering from abuse, so she began capturing each horrific account with her camera as evidence that abuse does exist and is quite prevalent.

"The camera has the power to make people happy or to destroy lives.It's got a healing power," she said.

Ferrato's motto is to photograph whatever takes her breath away. She goes for what is in the heart, and has no concept of perfection.

"I photograph what is shocking or beautiful...it is always meaningful," she said.

Ferrato presented a slide show of her work, much of which has been turned down by various publications because it is "too depressing." She also told of her experience living with a typical batterer, Garth, and his wife, Lisa.

While Garth and Lisa seemed like the "beautiful people," rich, successful and family-oriented, in reality, Garth had complete control over Lisa and their five children.

"He was like a devil. He berated, humiliated, and called her names," said Ferrato.

Lisa and Garth experienced what is commonly called the "honeymoon phase," a period during which the batterer is apologetic, extremely loving and often weepy like a child.

Like many battered women, Lisa started to weaken during this honeymoon period. She opened her heart back up in the hope that things would return to the way they were when she and Garth were first dating. The abuse didn't stop. Lisa eventually got up the courage to leave Garth for good.

"Staying with an abusive man is like getting in the ring with Mike Tyson," Ferrato said.

Throughout her career, Ferrato has lived in shelters for the abused, ridden with the police as they responded to domestic violence calls, and has witnessed violence firsthand on many occasions.

While a woman is beaten every 11 seconds in the United States, she said that children are often victims of abuse as well. Three million children are growing up in violent homes today. Ferrato said that if no one intervenes or counsels these kids on appropriate ways to express their emotions, many of them will become abusers or perhaps serial killers themselves.

Recalling one young boy who stood up to and spoke out against his enraged, violent father, Ferrato said that we don't listen enough to what kids have to say.

"The real wisdom comes out of the mouths of children," she said. Ferrato also spoke about female victims who kill their perpetrators out of self defense and the consequences of their actions versus those of male batterers. Women who kill typically serve sentences that are 3 to 4 times longer than men who murder. Unlike men, these women usually don't have an opportunity for parole.

Ferrato stressed the importance of education in the prevention of domestic violence. Women must empower themselves and fight outside sources that may try to control what they do, she said.

Women must also learn what love is and how to love, she said.

"Love is what is going to save us all."