Strangers Aren’t the Ones we Need to Fear Most

Family & F.I.T.  |  Debbie Hatch
If you have been or are currently in a domestic violence situation, this message comes with a trigger warning.
 
 
Other than that…
I am not going to sugar-coat this.
I am not going to try to word it tactfully.
I am not going to apologize if this upsets you. It should!
 
It upsets me, too. A LOT.
 
I grew up in a home where, more than once, I went to bed thinking my mother might be dead before morning. She’s had multiple broken bones and countless injuries over the past 45 years. I have multiple friends who have been in abusive relationships. I’ve been the recipient of domestic violence myself, numerous times. In my experience, it is not strangers that I’ve needed to be fearful of.
 
I also worked as a dispatcher for the State Police. So…I’m not surprised at this headline. “Most female homicide victims are killed by husbands or other intimate partners.”
 
I am; however, shocked, incredibly sad, and very angry at this stated fact:
 
“A report out Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that homicide is the FIFTH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR WOMEN AGES 18 TO 44. In 2015 alone, 3,519 women and girls were killed. More than half of these killings were perpetrated by current or former boyfriends, husbands or other intimate partners.”
It’s incredibly difficult to do.  I know that.  Women stay for a variety of reasons.  I know that, too.  But…get help.  Please.  It doesn’t get better.

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