My son is a survivor. I am a survivor. My mom is a survivor. Her Mom is a survivor.
What am I talking about? Domestic violence.
I am going to get to the point real quick here people. America has a DV epidemic. If you look it up today you will discover that 1 in 4 women will experience severe violence in their lifetimes by their partner-spouse. Did you catch that? One in four experience extreme violence!
Did you know that every 9 seconds someone begins beating their partner in the continental United States?
Did you know that 1 in 3 women will experience some form of abuse by a partner in her lifetime?
Are you aware that most abuse goes unreported? Do you realize that means that all of the numbers I just gave you are skewed and do not reflect the true breadth of this situation?
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
If you’re not convinced we have an epidemic here’s the statistic I will leave you with acquired from the Huffington Post:
The number of American troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2012 was 6,488. The number of American women who were murdered by current or ex male partners during that time was 11,766. That’s nearly double the amount of casualties lost during war.
If you are being abused speak up, speak out. (He or she wants you to keep quiet and protect his secret. He does not want to get caught. He wants to keep dominating you, controlling you, owning you… you are a possession, nothing more.)
If you have been abused speak up, speak out. Share your stories. It will help others greatly. Not talking about it allows the epidemic to thrive. People want to distance themselves from it. And that kills women every day, and on some days, men too.
If you need help there are resources in your area. You can be free again. You can live again. You can be loved and are deserved to be loved. Your partner makes the choice to call you names, isolate you, beat you, rape you… whatever he or she is doing it is a calculated decision made with full understanding and intent. Nothing you do is causing it. If he/she wasn’t abusing you right now, he’d be abusing someone else.
Please read the great Calling Card left by Better Not Broken:
Every single American woman should have these national hotline numbers memorized. I hope you’ll be the exception and never need to use them.
(clicking the photos below will take you to their respective websites):
p.s. You don’t have to give them your name. And they won’t tell your parents. If you are not ready to leave but need someone to talk to they will listen. There are many different volunteers so if you don’t like the person who answered when you called don’t throw out the resource and don’t stop looking for other resources. There are tons of them out there. And they want to help. Many of the volunteers are survivors or family members of past victims. They really do care.
Memee's Musings 