I found this graph on facebook about how many women have been killed by their husbands or boyfriends since 9/11/2001. Since that fateful day, we have curtailed many of the freedoms the constitution offered us to keep us safe, namely the NDAA, the patriot act and the TSA. We have started 2 wars and pretty much crashed the US and world economy because of a terrorist attack.
Yet we have a vast and far more serious problem our homes are often battlefields that claim massive casualties what we never discuss is domestic violence. If we look at just the number of women who have died since 9/11, alone, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, we see more women have died at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends than all the people killed in the war on terror.
That is chilling. But worse is that this number doesn't include the number of men killed by partners (the estimate I found was about 1/4 as many men are killed in domestic violence whether its from boyfriends, spouses or girlfriends who are killed because their partner is aggressive or in self-defense.
But probably what is more worrying is that probably most family violence doesn't result in death. And not all domestic violence is between the husband and wife, much is directed at the children.
A friend of mine wants to set up a network to support the perpetrators who don't want to beat their spouse but can't help themselves along with a support network for the victims. He wants to do this because he witnessed domestic violence in his home. His story is
"I watched my mother get beaten by my drunken father when I was a boy. I used to fight my father (260lbs) too... to try to get him off my mother. I was a teen and about 128lbs. He threw me away like a rag doll, but I kept going back for more wacks from his fists. Dad got sober and had 17 yrs of sobriety before he died in 06. God bless him. He tried to make amends and did in many respects."
It's not just women/wives who suffer from the domestic violence, its the kids as well, and even the perpetrators.
I was chatting on twitter one night with another guy who was distraught as to why his father beat the family and now he feels the same urge to beat his family. He was torn with anguish and horror and felt he couldn't help himself. And all I could do was read his private messages before he deleted them. I felt powerless and obviously felt shame in the face of his seeming powerlessness. I wish he'd let me reread his messages - perhaps I might have been able to help him. This is my attempt to help him - we need to discuss this and you are definitely not the only one.
These people need help. We need to talk about domestic violence and not pretend it doesn't happen. Why are they doing it, what can they do to stop it, yet the discussion is completely shut down. Its time we asked questions about why it is happening.
Yet we have a vast and far more serious problem our homes are often battlefields that claim massive casualties what we never discuss is domestic violence. If we look at just the number of women who have died since 9/11, alone, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, we see more women have died at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends than all the people killed in the war on terror.
That is chilling. But worse is that this number doesn't include the number of men killed by partners (the estimate I found was about 1/4 as many men are killed in domestic violence whether its from boyfriends, spouses or girlfriends who are killed because their partner is aggressive or in self-defense.
But probably what is more worrying is that probably most family violence doesn't result in death. And not all domestic violence is between the husband and wife, much is directed at the children.
A friend of mine wants to set up a network to support the perpetrators who don't want to beat their spouse but can't help themselves along with a support network for the victims. He wants to do this because he witnessed domestic violence in his home. His story is
"I watched my mother get beaten by my drunken father when I was a boy. I used to fight my father (260lbs) too... to try to get him off my mother. I was a teen and about 128lbs. He threw me away like a rag doll, but I kept going back for more wacks from his fists. Dad got sober and had 17 yrs of sobriety before he died in 06. God bless him. He tried to make amends and did in many respects."
It's not just women/wives who suffer from the domestic violence, its the kids as well, and even the perpetrators.
I was chatting on twitter one night with another guy who was distraught as to why his father beat the family and now he feels the same urge to beat his family. He was torn with anguish and horror and felt he couldn't help himself. And all I could do was read his private messages before he deleted them. I felt powerless and obviously felt shame in the face of his seeming powerlessness. I wish he'd let me reread his messages - perhaps I might have been able to help him. This is my attempt to help him - we need to discuss this and you are definitely not the only one.
These people need help. We need to talk about domestic violence and not pretend it doesn't happen. Why are they doing it, what can they do to stop it, yet the discussion is completely shut down. Its time we asked questions about why it is happening.
