Yes, the image above is funny but there is a reason I posted it and it is not for comedic purposes. I found out yesterday, that on New Years Eve, a member of my family was violently beaten by her boyfriend. He beat her in front of their kids as her 3 year old daughter yelled at him to "Quit hitting my Mommy!". I don't care if you are in a bad mood, I don't care if your dog got hit by a car or someone pissed in your Cherrios and I sure as hell don't care that you were drunk and got pissed off that she woke you up!
She tried to call the police, he took away the phone. She tried to get out the front door, he pulled her back inside the apartment and locked her in. Oh, did I mention the neighbors were at home and heard what was happening and DID NOT call the police. Yeah, mighty Christian of them, huh? So he beat her and beat her and beat her and then stopped. He picked up the phone and called the police because he thought he had just killed her.
Thankfully he was arrested and is sitting in jail with no bail. He faces 1 to 5 for domestic violence and commiting an act of domestic violence in front of a child. The protective orders and no trespassing orders are in place and the justice system seems to be working on the side of good for once. But it scares me, what happens if somehow he gets out. How do we really prevent him from getting ahold of her again. What's going to stop him?
We treat domestic violence like it's nothing. We see it on television, in the movies, even in the books and articles we read. We have become desensitized as a society to where major violence doesn't even phase us anymore unless it happens to a child. Murder, rape, sodemy, molestatiton, beatings....it doesn't matter if happens to a woman who is an upstanding citizen or a drug addict or a hooker. They were all somebody's child, they were somebody's wife, mother, sister, aunt, cousin. It saddens me to think that we no longer cherish the women in our society that are the bearers of our furture generations. The souls that bring forth new life to love, care and nurture. We can no longer turn a blind eye and say, "It didn't happen to me so why should I get involved". I will tell you why, because you have no idea the pain of looking down at a steel table where the body of your daughter lies.....and you never want to.
ACOCAACN
First, I am so sorry for your friend- and for her children for what they were forced to witness. I took some time to consider your post today, and something you said really pushed through to the surface...
ReplyDelete'...the justice system seems to be working on the side of good for once.'
It was a simple offhand statement, and not really your point at all, but it is pivotal. I don't think that all Americans, or even the majority are desensitized to real violence. We know the difference between the drama of TV/movies and seeing/hearing a woman being beaten. The problem is the system. It's not that it just doesn't work- it's corrupt and people are tired of working with broken tools. Chances are the system has failed you in one way or another, directly or indirectly, no matter which side you are on. Special treatment or harassment with nearly no middle ground, from police, prosecutors and judges. My point is that it's not just the neighbors that failed here; the system failed before the fact. It doesn't make anything better, but maybe it will provide focus to someone to start affecting change. I have a terrible situation in my own life, and while there are people who have, and continue to fail my family, I remember everyday that my fight is with the system.