As a young child, not more than four years old, I hid behind the refrigerator as my parents fought.  Quiet as a mouse, I waited until everything was silent, as my mother had told me to do.  After what seemed like hours in my childish mind, I peeked around the corner to see if he was gone.  My mother lay motionless on the floor in a rapidly expanding pool of blood.  Fighting panic I cried out for my sister who I thought was probably hiding as well.  After no response I walked through the kitchen to the door where my mother was laying, I walked through my mother’s blood and on to the other room.  Looking back I could see my own footprints across the kitchen.  Looking back now, I still see them as vividly as I did that day.  Even after 30 years, I still cry for that little girl.

Years later, I asked my mother why she didn’t leave.  Her answer will always haunt my heart,

“I didn’t have a place to go, and even if I did,
 how would I support you girls?
you were the reason I stayed”

Maybe a person has to live through abuse to truly understand the weight of that statement and how it affects not only the mother, but her children as well.  I’ve shared with you a vision that’s been in my head for 30 years, one I will never forget and I hope it will leave a lasting impression on you as well.

Matthew 10:28-31

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Statistics

By the time you finish reading this sentence, a woman has been assaulted and beaten. By the end of today, at least 4 of them will be dead. Each year, an estimated minimum of 3.3 million children witness domestic violence. These children are much more likely to develop drug and alcohol addictions, become juvenile delinquents and as adults become abusers themselves.  By the age of 5, most children that grow up in homes where domestic violence occurs are demonstrating signs of abusive behavior.

More women suffer injuries from domestic abuse than from car accidents, mugging and rape combined.  In the past five years, more women have died from domestic abuse then the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War.  2/3 of all marriages experience instances of domestic violence.  In most cases, their children are assaulted and beaten also.  If they try to leave, they are much more likely to die.  Half of them try to leave anyway but end up either homeless or as fugitives of the law for taking their children. The other half will stay with their abuser because they cannot support themselves and their children.  Mothers are 8 times more likely to abuse their children while they are being battered and yet, if they are investigated by child protection organizations, they are not considered victims.  The vast majority of abused women who use shelter services bring their children. In one study, 72% of the women brought children to the shelter; 21% were accompanied by three or more children.

Since 1 out of every 3 women is a victim of domestic violence,

you either know an abused woman
… or you are one.

Resources

Call someone TODAY if you or your children are being abused

National Domestic
Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TDD)

·          ·        Support Network for Battered Women (SNBW)
Offers toll free hotline, resources, programs, volunteer information, and more.
www.snbw.org

 

 ·         Family Violence Prevention Fund
Works to prevent violence at home and in the community and to help those whose lives have been devastated by abuse, because everyone has the right to a life free of violence.
www.endabuse.org 

·         National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Dedicated to the elimination of personal and societal violence in the lives of women and their children. Site provides resources to local coalitions and other organizations.
www.ncadv.org  

·         Men Stopping Violence
Dedicated to ending the conditions that enable and perpetuate men’s violence against women, with a focus on battering in intimate relationships.
www.menstoppingviolence.org

·         Austin SafePlace
Merger of the Center for Battered Women and the Austin Rape Crisis Center. They are a domestic violence and sexual assault prevention center.
www.austin-safeplace.org

·         Silent Witness
Promoting peace, healing and responsibility in adult relationships in order to eliminate domestic murders by the year 2010.
www.silentwitness.net

·         Break the Cycle
Provides domestic violence prevention and early intervention services to youth, as well as education and legal services programs.
www.break-the-cycle.org

 ·        Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP)
Aims to promote change within community organizations and governmental agencies engaged in the civil and criminal justice response to domestic violence.
www.bwjp.org