Greetings,
Happy Mother’s Day,
Today my candle burns in support of those who are affected by Domestic Violence. Gone are the days that we can turn our heads and pretend not to see the pain of those affected. Domestic Violence is one of those things that no one ever thinks will happen to them, until it does.
As a woman and a mother, today of all days I give thanks that I am a survivor. My first husband was one of those… and luckily The Goddess did not see fit at that time in my life to allow a child to be brought into that. I survived, I got away, I got smart!
Do not judge women or men that are in DV situations, you will never know the hell unless you have been there yourself. I hear people all the time making comments like…”we’ll its her own fault for putting up with it” or ” just leave him! They have shelters now!” or even ” She must like it, or why would she stay?”…. They could not be further from the truth! Getting out or getting away is probably one of the hardest things to do. By the time a woman realizes that they are in truth victims, they have usually been traumatized beyond your comprehension. Threats to themselves cease to be an issue, its not even one day at a time… its one minute at a time. Its when the threats are to those they love that it becomes even harder to break away.
I know , I lived it! I was told repeatedly, “If you leave me or if you tell anyone I will kill your ( insert family member here).. and the sad part is YOU BELIEVE HIM… at this point most women sacrifice themselves to keep others from becoming involved. Sometimes its because they don’t want their Mom or Dad to know because either they will say ” I told you so” or they will end up in trouble for killing the offender. So we protect our loved ones by staying. At least that is what our messed up minds tell us …
The reality is most abusers are cowards. Not all, just most. A lot of them were in abusive situations as children and in their minds thats the way it works. They were scared then of their abuser, or their Mom’s abuser so to prove themselves they in turn abuse others,, its a sad, sick circle… So my goal here is to just remind you that victums of DV are VICTIMS of society. We must as a society stand together and say “Enough”, it is not acceptable!
It will not be tolerated!…
Find out more about how I support Domestic Violence Shelters Here!
Blessings,
Michele
