Domestic Violence Awareness Month Day 13

If you or know someone in need of information and resources call 800-799-7233 or 800-787-3224 or visit www.safe4all.org You are probably wondering why I did not post yesterday, well it was to honor the one woman who did not survive her abusers abuse. She could have been a wife, mother, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, neighbor, co-worker, business owner, teacher, doctor, nurse, and so on. Statistics show 1 in 4 women are being abused. You never knew what she was experiencing behind closed doors as she never shared with anyone the hell she was living in at home. She felt ashamed, she had hoped her abuser was going to change, she stayed because of the kids, she did not think she was being abused. Abusers have considerable control over their victims. It never feels like abuse when the abuser is sorry and remorseful afterwards. They leave you flowers, take you out to dinner, tell you they love you. Until it happens again, you begin to doubt them, question yourself and hope it is not the same old song being played again. For a lot of us this is what it feels like when we are in this cycle. Through my facebook page and this blog, I have been encouraging readers to share their stories in ways they feel safe and comfortable. At first I thought maybe it’s best to tell the story through pictures, but I felt that only shows one dimension of abuse: the physical. By now, I hope you recognize that abuse is more than just that. I then solicited written pieces. I recognize that there are risks when doing that in fear of being identified or recognized. This is why you will never see names or locations of where these posts are from unless they express otherwise. I also acknowledge as one reader wrote “how hard it was to read” about as they could never see themselves engaging in the same abusive ways abusers do. That made me question, what is an effective way of bringing awareness to domestic/intimate partner violence? Is my page too graphic or explicit? Should I tone it down? I am still unsure of the answer, but I appreciate the feedback.