On October 17, 1994, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, Maryland, Judge Robert E. Cahill sentenced Kenneth Peacock for killing his wife Sandra on February 9, several hours after he found her in bed with another man. In delivering his decision at the sentencing hearing, Judge Cahill said, "I seriously wonder how many married men...would have the strength to walk away...without inflicting some corporal punishment, whatever that punishment might be.
What You Can Do:
Join the efforts of women's organizations in Maryland to protest Judge Cahill's demonstrated insensitivity to the most extreme violence against women. Write to the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities, asking them to investigate the Peacock case and take appropriate disciplinary action to demonstrate that the State of Maryland is committed to equal protection of the law, including the protection of women from domestic violence. Acknowledge the efforts of the Commission to reprimand Judge Bollinger for his conduct in the Gillette case but note that these efforts do not appear to have had much effect on the judge, indicating that more forceful action might be required in such cases. Contact the media and ask them to publicize the case of Judge Cahill. Send copies of your letters, and of any press clippings, to the Select Committee on Gender Equality and to the Women's Law Center.
The Honorable Theodore G. Bloom, Chair
Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
Courts of Appeal Building
361 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Select Committee on Gender Equality
Courts of Appeal Building
361 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
The Women's Law Center
P.O. Box 5362
Lutherville, MD 21094-5362
The 20-year-old Nepali woman in this picture is shown with her husband and two daughters, aged one and three years old. Shortly after this picture was taken, Bimla became pregnant again. Harassed by her in-laws, who feared that Bimla would have yet another daughter when they wanted a grandson, Bimla sought an abortion. The "back street" abortionist she found inserted two capsules in her vagina. The next day, after painful contractions, Bimla started bleeding. 
Lok Maya Adhikari is a thirty-eight-year-old farmer in Bhadrapur, Nepal who has been in detention since June 1995, and is now serving a one-year sentence on the charge of having had an abortion. Married at the age of 15 and widowed at 32, Lok Maya was left with five children, the youngest of whom is six years old. Her children, two sons and three daughters, have been sent to live with an uncle while their mother serves her prison term. 
Minerva Teresa Torres Albeldaño, an eighteen-year-old woman from Chihuahua City in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, disappeared on 13 March 2001 after leaving home to attend a job interview. It took nine days for the police to initiate a search for Minerva. They maintained that she had run away, denying the urgent and repeated requests of her parents for intervention. 