Best of
Abuse

1986

The Trouble with Secrets


Karen Johnsen - 1986
    But if you feel hurt or confused, you need to tell a grown-up you trust. That's the message in this book, which uses familiar examples of many different secrets. An excellent tool for teaching children to think for themselves in confusing situations. Recommended by members of Parents Anonymous. Available in Spanish; see page 60.

Torture in Brazil: A Shocking Report on the Pervasive Use of Torture by Brazilian Military Governments, 1964-1979, Secretly Prepared by the Archiodese of São Paulo


Archdiocese of São Paulo - 1986
    The catalog of what went on during that grim period was originally published in Portuguese as Brasil: Nunca Mais (Brazil: Never Again) in 1985.The volume was based on the official documentation kept by the very military that perpetrated the horrific acts. These extensive documents include military court proceedings of actual trials, secretly photocopied by lawyers associated with the Catholic Church and analyzed by a team of researchers. Their daring project—known as BNM for Brasil: Nunca Mais—compiled more than 2,700 pages of testimony by political prisoners documenting close to three hundred forms of torture.The BNM project proves conclusively that torture was an essential part of the military justice system and that judicial authorities were clearly aware of the use of torture to extract confessions. Still, it took more than a decade after the publication of Brasil: Nunca Mais for the armed forces to admit publicly that such torture had ever taken place. Torture in Brazil, the English version of the book re-edited here, serves as a timely reminder of the role of Brazil's military in past repression.

Naming the Violence: Speaking Out about Lesbian Battering


Kerry Lobel - 1986
    Gay & Lesbian Studies, Homosexuality, Women's Studies

Life with Billy


Brian Vallée - 1986
    This is the story of Jane Stafford and her six-year ordeal of unimaginable abuse at the hands of her common-law husband, Billy Stafford--and of the night Jane killed Billy with a shotgun.