The Centers for Disease Control says 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men in United States are victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives.
Approximately 33 million or 15% of all U.S. adults, admit that they were a victim of domestic violence. Six in ten adults claim that they know someone personally who has experienced domestic violence.
3 out of 4 people know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence.
The CDS says 23.6% of women and 11.5% of men aged 18 years or more have a lifetime history of intimate partner violence victimization.
If you know someone that needs help, someone that may be the victim of abuse, give them 256-716-1000. That is the emergency number for Crisis Services of North Alabama.
If you know someone that needs help walking out the front door and into the light and safety, help point them in the right direction.
Some people get out alive. Some don't. Help them make a decision that can save a life.
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6 comments:
thank you for posting this, greg.
domestic violence has deeply scarred my life. my mom was married to a...well, i won't even call him a man....several years ago. he is not my father.
my father is an awesome man.
this "guy" was so abusive. mentally, emotionally, physically to both of us.
i always wondered why she stayed. why WE stayed.
i have witnessed him doing unthinkable things to my mother...holding her very roughly and shooting a gun into the air to scare her, kicking her and knocking her down, ramming the stock of a shotgun into her stomach while she was very pregnant with my sister (who is now 18) and the list goes on and on and on.
he has roughed me up as well. i've had to go to school with a knot on my face and say that i got hit while playing basketball.
i could have left to go stay with my dad.
but i just couldn't bear to leave my mom, not knowing what would happen to her.
very tough situation.
but finally, i got up the nerve to leave. i didn't even tell my mom. i had some neighbors who helped me gather my things one day when i was supposed to be at school. i was 18. and now i was on my own. scary stuff.
i would hear from my mom every now and then, but it was rarely good.
and then finally she left. somehow.
afterwards, she was a victims advocate for cullman county for a while. now she works for cook's pest control. she has a place of her own and is doing ok. she carries a pistol with her, though. and she knows how to use it!
this is a very condensed version of my story. i could talk about it all night, but there would be lots of crying involved.
i still have no clue how this "guy" was never jailed for what he did. i just don't get it.
cops in cullman used to know who he was. he had all kinds of warrants out on him, but he was never caught.
i did hear from a relative that she saw him one day with some woman...that woman looked "beat up" is what she said.
BUT my mom and i are both victims AND survivors of domestic violence. some women and men are not so blessed as to be survivors.
sorry...i didn't mean for that response to be such a downer!
take care, greg.
Brandi,
Don't ever apologize for sending me anything. You have supported me through my television career and I always love to hear from you.
Your story is painful and compelling. But maybe someone will see it and be moved to take the step they need.
Thank you, and I mean that very humbly, for sharing your story.
This is an important issue and I plan to talk about it more. There are plenty of stories out there unfortunately, and some of them are in places you least expect.
Take care. Please stay in touch.
Greg
thank you, greg, for your sweet response.
there are very few "real" news persons out there. alot of them seem idunno..fake? that may not be the right word i'm looking for. it's just nice to see personality and humor and compassion from the folks who bring you the news. and you can tell when someone loves what they do. you've made me laugh and almost make drinks come out my nose! you should join a comedy/improv troupe :)
oh! speaking of improv...jason has begun practicing with a local improv group. face2face is the name of the group. we're friends with some of the members and he inquired about joining up with them. so, hopefully in the near future, he'll be in the shows!
they play at ars nova, kenny mango's, java jaay's and the daily brew.
anyway.
i do talk about abuse every now and then with family or through my blog. it's good to talk about it, but it always hurts, too.
october is nation domestic violence awareness month. i have a short entry that i post to my journal/blog every year about it. the designated color is purple (ya know how they do the ribbons...like pink for breast cancer, etc.?), so i make the text purple and dedicate it to my mom.
i'm curious to hear what you have to say. are you planning some sort of special on it or more blog posts?
i will definitely stay in touch.
thanks again
brandi
Brandi,
thanks for the heads up.
i really appreciate it. i didn't know that october was the month for awareness and I'm working on something now for that.
thanks again for sharing that story which is very painful to relay I'm sure.
Also...
I have almost picked up the phone a hundred times to call Face-to-Face to see if I can get involved.
I've seen them and they are a great deal of fun...not to mention funny...LOL.
I hope it goes great for Jason. Let me know when he's in a show!
Would love to catch them. Haven't seen them in a while.
Take care. Stay in touch!
Greg
no prob :)
i'll be looking forward to what you have to say!
how funny! maybe one day you can be involved. i know you're a busy guy, though. they do rehearsals on monday nights til kind of late. but he really enjoys learning new things and how it works. he's very excited about it.
i'll let you know when he'll be in a show and maybe you and your lovely wife can come watch :)
thanks for taking the time to respond. have a great week!
brandi
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