HOW FRIENDS AND FAMILY CAN HURT
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The year is 2010.
I find it difficult to believe that awareness is STILL such a problem.
But it is....
Friends and family can hurt survivors. Some may not mean to but some....I can only say their ignorance has blinded them .
If you do a search on any combination of words dealing with "those that stand with abusers" you'll find tons of examples.
And they're current accounts, not something that happened 50 years ago.
Blaming the survivor is what I see most. (Online and in person) "you deserved it" "why are you still talking about it?" "let it go" (most are holding on to past experiences themselves and crying over them but...it's different when they do it
) I've even had people tell me I'm not healing because I'm talking about it......something to do with "picking the scabs"
So, October is a time it's going to be OK to talk about domestic violence.
(Fortunately there are many places to go that aren't afraid to speak about it all year. I'm lucky I found one of those places...many don't)
It's about getting the word out that domestic violence is alive and well....it's about survivors telling their stories...it's about reading or listening about the victims that weren't so lucky to get out. It's a time to let abusers know we aren't going to smile and nod at them anymore ...we're stronger than they thought and we're not stopping in our fight to stop domestic violence.
It's a time for women to support other women. It's a time for those who have never been involved in an abusive relationship to understand what happens, learn and educate all they know so they won't ever have to rescue someone they love from a violent home...or identify them in a morgue.
It's a time to stop the misconceptions, the lies, the myths about domestic violence.
It's a time to stop standing by when you see or hear of domestic violence and do nothing.
It's a time to stop supporting the abusers.
It's a time to let our voices be heard.
Silence hides violence.
Ignorance about domestic violence and it's far reaching effects are shameful.
We can make a difference.
.....and it's time.
The year is 2010.
I find it difficult to believe that awareness is STILL such a problem.
But it is....
Friends and family can hurt survivors. Some may not mean to but some....I can only say their ignorance has blinded them .
If you do a search on any combination of words dealing with "those that stand with abusers" you'll find tons of examples.
And they're current accounts, not something that happened 50 years ago.
Blaming the survivor is what I see most. (Online and in person) "you deserved it" "why are you still talking about it?" "let it go" (most are holding on to past experiences themselves and crying over them but...it's different when they do it
) I've even had people tell me I'm not healing because I'm talking about it......something to do with "picking the scabs" So, October is a time it's going to be OK to talk about domestic violence.
(Fortunately there are many places to go that aren't afraid to speak about it all year. I'm lucky I found one of those places...many don't)
It's about getting the word out that domestic violence is alive and well....it's about survivors telling their stories...it's about reading or listening about the victims that weren't so lucky to get out. It's a time to let abusers know we aren't going to smile and nod at them anymore ...we're stronger than they thought and we're not stopping in our fight to stop domestic violence.
It's a time for women to support other women. It's a time for those who have never been involved in an abusive relationship to understand what happens, learn and educate all they know so they won't ever have to rescue someone they love from a violent home...or identify them in a morgue.
It's a time to stop the misconceptions, the lies, the myths about domestic violence.
It's a time to stop standing by when you see or hear of domestic violence and do nothing.
It's a time to stop supporting the abusers.
It's a time to let our voices be heard.
Silence hides violence.
Ignorance about domestic violence and it's far reaching effects are shameful.
We can make a difference.
.....and it's time.
Posted by N2itive1 at Sunday, September 12. 2010 
Categories: Domestic Violence
Tags: abuse domestic violence helping with domestic violence dv
Categories: Domestic Violence
Tags: abuse domestic violence helping with domestic violence dv
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