This news article from a week ago covers a story that, while I did not realize it at the time that I bookmarked it as a potential source for a post, mirrors many of the stories in Women of the Asylum quite heavily. A woman in Pennsylvania was committed to a psychiatric facility by her ex-boyfriend, who is a cop, based on false claims that she was suicidal. Similar to many of the stories told by 19th century women regarding being involuntarily committed to asylums, the ex-boyfriend used involuntary psychiatric treatment as a method of furthering abuse and, as part of his role as a cop, was able to do so due to a power imbalance in the relationship that meant his word held more weight than the victim’s and that he was able to make the decision to have her committed without thorough assessment of her mental state.