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Defending Our Lives is a recent Oscar® winning documentary about the magnitude and severity of domestic violence in this country. The women in the documentary are members of 'Battered Women Fighting Back!' a grass-roots organization dedicated to exposing domestic violence as a critical human rights violation threatening the majority of the population: women and children. 'Battered Women Fighting Back!' began as a prison support group for battered women who had killed their abusers, and with the support of human rights activist, Stacey Kabat, developed into a community-based task force of over 100 volunteers.

Defending Our Lives aims to educate people about domestic violence and to spur legislative and judicial reform. It is appropriate for people working on any aspect of this issue, including general education, legal reform, police training, battered women advocacy, counseling, prosecution and defense, human rights activism and community education.  Staff members from the Community Advocacy Program will be present to facilitate a discussion and to provide information on available resources.  This program is in celebration of Women’s History month, and is also part of the Adams St. Branch’s series of programs, Mockingbird Lives!, a series in support of The Big Read of Eastern Massachusetts.