Most of my posts are reflective, light, and energetic. This post is a little different, but I think it’s important-if these words resonate with a single person-one day, even if it’s in a 100 years, then it’ll be worth the post.
If at any point, you evaluate your life and find that you are in a situation that is not healthy-please move on. I’m classifying anything healthy to include mental health, physical, emotional stability, and the sake of others in your care-ie. kids. I recognize the words are easier to read than the actions that take place. I recognize it’s easy for me to “tell you” what to do, but my hope is that you find the power within yourself, the strength, the courage to remove yourself.
I want more for you in this life. I want you to want more for you in this life.
Abuse, whether mental manipulation or physical, often does not happen just one time, and if allowed to continue, will escalate until the abused is hurt (beyond just mental ramifications) or murdered.
In fact, 31 percent of those convicted on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge were arrested again within a year of being released, according to the Center for Court Innovation, and 44 percent were arrested again within two years. (https://www.domesticshelters.org/domestic-violence-articles-information/will-it-happen-again#.WPoRG_nysdU)
There is help. There are abuse hotlines and forums. There are shelters. It will be an inconvenience to your life. It will be an upset. And it just may be what keeps you alive for the next scores of years.
Huffington Post posted this article in 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/domestic-violence-statistics_n_5959776.html. Go check it out, it has some very real, very relate able statistics. I’m noting some of them below:
- 85% of Domestic Abuse is Directed to Women
- 3 Women are Murdered Every Day by a Current or Former Male Partner in the US
- Every Minute 20 People are Victims of Intimate Partner Violence
- 1 in 4 Women will be Victims of Severe Violence by an Intimate Partner in Their Lifetimes
- A Woman is Beaten every 9 Second in the US
Friends, the list continues. I urge you to read the article. I hope that the realization will be jarring, educational, and moving. Remember, we don’t know what others are going through or what is happening in their world. You can’t protect everyone, but please be willing to talk to someone, don’t be afraid that you’ll offend them.
You. May. Be. Their. Only. Lifeline.
If you’re wondering how you can help, be present. Communicate. Join a volunteer organization. Read some books (I just read The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker). Educate yourself on the signs. Educate yourself on the resources out there. Donate old clothes and items to shelters.
Just because something is hard to face does NOT mean that it doesn’t exist. Life is happening to you and around you, looking the other way is not the answer.
Be Courageous. 