Never Be Scared!

Every nine seconds a woman is physically abused by her husband (Statistics). There are many reasons why a battered woman feels she needs to stay in an abusive relationship, like fear, lack of finances, children, or simply lack of resources, but no one has the right to harm another, it’s against the law, and someone could be killed. Leaving an abusive relationship can be the difference between your life and death.

Many victims of abuse deny or minimize the abuse and believe that their partner will change. Some battered women, believing there are no options to escape the abuse, may kill their abuser. Several women believe they deserve whatever abuse is happening to them but no matter what the circumstances might be no one has the right to belittle or harm another person in any way.

Physical violence of any kind is against the law, and the police should be called the first time an abuser attacks. Only about half of domestic violence incidents are reported to police (“U.S. Statistics”). Telling the police everything is a vital piece to getting out of your situation; it may be scary at first because your partner may have made threats, but the outcome will be rewarding. Victims can also get a Restraining Order which orders a person or a person to stay away from persons named in the order and prohibits them from hurting or threatening to hurt those named in the order.

The worst possible outcome of staying in an abusive relationship is death, but by attempting to leave the abused could escape those chances. Victims also believe their partners may come for them after they leave, but there are many strategies to prevent the abuser from finding the abused. One strategy could be to find a safe haven when its time to decide to leave that way the abuser will not find the victim. Another way could be getting plenty of support from friends and family, if they know about the abuse they can help keep the victim safe. Try getting a restraining order, make sure there is have a safe place to live, and make sure people around you know the situation in case they see or hear anything unusual.

Each and every one of us knows someone or knows of someone who has been affected by domestic violence. There are many resources and organizations that can assistant a woman can use to escape safely out a domestic violence situation. My hope is that anyone who is in a domestic violence situation seeks the help they need and deserve.