Right now, somewhere in this vast universe, a bomb explodes. Hundreds of people may be wounded or dead and the world mourns. Families will be shattered by the loss of a spouse, a parent, a brother, a sister, a son or a daughter. Questions arise - who's to blame for this tragedy? The world wonders - will we be next?
You sit in front of your television, listening intently as the news media attempt to answer the mountains of questions. You think - this is on the other side of the world and I am safe in my own home. But are you safe? If you are a victim of spousal abuse, you are living with a time-bomb and it could explode when you least expect it.
*Any woman who maintains a relationship with a man (husband, ex-husband, friend, lover) could become a battered or abused "wife". The words abused or battered do not refer to the normal conflict and stress that occur in all relationships, but rather to the violence that can cause serious injury or death. In the pamphlet Women: Rape and Wife-beating, Natalie Jaffe cites a typical description of the kind of harm suffered by battered women surveyed in shelters and treatment centers in California.
Most injuries were to the head and neck and, in addition to bruises, strangle marks, black eyes, and split lips, resulted in eye damage, fractured jaws, broken bones, and permanent hearing loss. Assaults to the trunk of the body were almost as common and produced a broken collarbone, bruised and broken ribs, a fractured tailbone, internal hemorrhaging and a lacerated liver.
Physical injuries will eventually heal, but what about the mental injuries you and your children will suffer? Do you know that many young boys who grow up in an abusive environment will also be abusive? Do you realize that girls who have seen their mother beaten on a regular basis all too often find themselves in abusive relationships?
I am a domestic violence survivor. You can also be a survivor, but it won't happen unless you really want it to happen. YOU and only YOU have the ability to become a survivor. I'll admit it's the hardest thing you may ever have to do, but in the end you will feel so much better for doing it. If you will click on the first link below, I will tell you why it was so hard for me to leave and why I finally made the decision that would change my life.
*The national institute of mental health, Plain talk about wife abuse
Links to other sites on the Web
Warning signs of abusers
Why I couldn't leave
Sign my guestbook
guestbook
NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE
Domestic Violence Handbook
Coping with emotional bullies
Domestic violence hotlines and resources
Child abuse survivors monument
Phenomenal Women of the Web
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
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