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Following up from our coverage earlier this week of violence against women globally, with Jordanian journalist Rana Husseini, we focus today and tomorrow on violence against American women through the case of one victim of domestic violence: Debbie Peagler. In 1982, a man by the name of Oliver Wilson was found dead. Among those arrested for his murder was his former girlfriend Deborah Peagler who was convicted of first degree murder and 25 years to life in prison. Peagler had been horrifically abused and tortured by Wilson, forced into prostitution, and had her daughter molested by him. She had turned to two men to help free her from his grasp. After serving 27 years in prison, Debbie, through the hard work of pro-bono lawyers and a lot of public support and media attention, finally won her freedom this past August. There is now a growing recognition that abused women who attack or kill their batterers ought to be given special consideration. However, many women continue to be punished for attempting to defend themselves from abuse. A case in point is the story of Sarah Kruzan from Riverside California, reported in Alternet.org, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing her pimp – a man who raped her and then forced her to work the streets since she was a 13 year old child. Today, despite an on-going battle with cancer, Debbie Peagler is a free woman, and carrying out her own crusade to bring attention to victims of domestic violence. I spoke with her recently and today we play part 1 of our 2 part interview.

GUEST: Debbie Peagler, formerly incarcerated victim of domestic violence, Yoav Potash, film maker of Crime After Crime: The Battle To Free Deborah Peagler.

For more information, visit www.crimeaftercrime.com.

Find out more about Debbie’s case at www.freedebbie.org