Imagine a law getting abused in Oklahoma. Shocker, right? //

Under a law in Oklahoma that charges someone who knew about abuse but didn’t report it, women are getting 30 years in prison for failing to report, while the actual abuser, is getting probation:

Kerry King never hurt her kids. She was a longtime survivor of domestic violence.

But she was convicted under a type of child abuse law—a “failure to protect” law. They exist in most states. And they are extremely problematic. 2/x pic.twitter.com/Xv5EwLO90p

— Samantha Michaels (@sjmichaels) August 9, 2022

King told the nonprofit newsroom that her ex-boyfriend, John Purdy, abused both her and her daughter, but she didn’t find out about the harm done to her child until she noticed bruises on her child’s legs that Purdy said were the result of a fall.

King said she later caught Purdy with his fingers around the child’s neck and punched him. He retaliated, slamming King’s head against a wall and forcing her to hold Lilah down to be spanked, the mother said.

King told Mother Jones she later threw her body over her daughter to protect her. “I was scared,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

King was sentenced to 12 years longer than Purdy.

…

“It’s sexism,” Lambert said. “It’s the assumption that women are responsible for all the goings-on in the home.”

dailykos.com