Overcoming Domestic Violence: Turning Pain into Purpose
Updated: Oct 25, 2019
No one imagine they will ever be in a domestic violence situation. I know I didn't.
Domestic violence exists in every aspect of society. It crosses every ethnic, racial, and demographic. Yet, it is often suffered in silence out of shame, fear and guilt. I walked through an abusive relationship on and off for four years in my mid-teens to early 20s.
After it happened, for three years I didn't speak a word of the trauma. The first time I spoke about it was to a counselor in college for three + months, Then, I openly spoke out about it to students on campus.
The comment I most often got was "I can't imagine you in a domestic violence relationship". That's just in. Domestic violence comes in all shapes, sizes and colors.
This past week, I attended a Candlelight Vigil with Partnership Against Domestic Violence. Since 1977, PADV has worked passionately and tirelessly to end the crime of intimate partner violence and empower its survivors. .As I heard the victims of domestic violence in Georgia, tears came for them and those they left behind.
At the same time, I feel gratitude for what I've walked through and turning pain into purpose. Did you know that 1 in 4 women are impacted by domestic violence? Every 9 seconds a women is beaten, and over 20,000 calls are placed to hotlines daily. Daily. The average woman in an abusive relationship takes 5-7 times to leave. That is when the danger is the greatest.
Transformation is required. It is not okay in any day and age and in any country.
It is my hope that this helps increase transformation and inspiration.
