National Domestic Violence Month

I've chosen today to highlight a particularly unfortunate instance of violence, the likes of which occur all too often. Posted directly from her Facebook page is my sister's direct evidence of a physically (and emotionally) violent ex-husband. I admire her courage in going public with her abuse and her abuser. My two sisters and myself have never shied away from placing our personal struggles in very public forums. Regular readers know I have often opted for brutal honesty. Now you know from whence I get it.

The intensity of the narrative speaks for itself in two damning pictures and a paragraph. Many men deny the severity or prevalence of domestic violence, relegating it to the margins. Feminists have long sought to drag these products of shame and embarrassment out of the shadows, even when they may cause their audience great discomfort or spark defensive debate. It didn't hit home for me until it happened to someone I love dearly. Abusive partners have probably existed as long as humanity itself, which makes it extremely difficult to prosecute and by turns eradicate the damage they cause.
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It's National Domestic Violence Awareness month. These are pictures taken the day after I was attacked by my ex-husband. The text message was him admitting to hurting me. No one in my life (myself included) knew that this person was capable of violence. I was so ashamed and embarrassed that I didn't tell anyone about the abuse until things got so bad that I feared for my life. I would encourage everyone to educate themselves on the signs of abuse as well as the characteristics of abusers in the hopes that we can protect ourselves and the people we love from violence. ‪#‎domesticviolenceawareness‬