Clemency for Women in Louisiana works to grant leniency to women prisoners who were convicted of murder after suffering years of physical and mental abuse. Although these women acted in self-defense against their batterers, they were not given due process or fair trials and they deserve clemency. Sign this petition to help Clemency for Women in Louisiana advocate for justice for the women unfairly incarcerated in Louisiana’s prisons. In the U.S., one-third of female murder victims are murdered by male partners, and women survive an estimated 4.8 million rapes and physical assaults each year at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends, while less than 4% of male murder victims are killed by female partners, and many of these women are acting to defend themselves from men who have repeatedly beaten them. Louisiana currently ranks first in the nation for the highest rate of women murdered by men. In cases where the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 91 percent of female victims (1,587 out of 1,743) were murdered by someone they knew. Of these, 62 percent (990 out of 1,587) were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. More than 10 times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers. Despite the threat to their lives and the lives of their children, battered women who kill their spouses are not granted leniency for self-defense. Studies have also shown that the sentences to women who were victims of domestic violence may in fact be higher than those for women who are not. Not only did these women not receive any help from the justice system against their abusers, but they now face severe punishments, including life in prison, that simply do not fit the crime. We urge you to sign this petition to help bring justice to these women.

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