Definition
Veena Charan was a woman who was murdered by her estranged husband in San Francisco, California, on January 15, 1990. Her death received much attention due to Charan’s frequent unsuccessful attempts to seek support and protection from government agencies. Following the murder, San Francisco launched an investigation into how the system had failed Charan and proposed solutions to reduce similar incidents in the future.
Veena and Joseph Charan were separated, and Veena was awarded full custody of their son. Joseph assaulted, stalked, and threatened Veena, prompting her to contact the police on numerous occasions. Veena obtained a restraining order, which Joseph violated both at her house and workplace. He attempted to kidnap their 9-year-old son multiple times and vandalized Veena’s house both with graffiti and by driving his car through her garage door. He was arrested for battery, vandalism, and violating a restraining order on December 11, 1989, and pleaded guilty to the...
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References
City and County of San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. (2021). Family violence council report: July 01, 2019–June 30, 2020. https://sfgov.org/dosw/sites/default/files/FY%202020%20Family%20Violence%20Council%20Report%20FINAL.pdf
Commission on the Status of Women, City and County of San Francisco. (1991). San Francisco’s response to domestic violence: The Charan Investigation. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C2509904
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Hogg, K. (2023). Veena Charan. In: Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85493-5_217-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85493-5_217-1
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