Domestic Violence Awareness Month starts in October, but domestic violence is at an all-time high in every city – especially here in the Washington, DC area. Domestic violence accounts for 15% of all crimes, and 19% involves a weapon. Sadly, these crimes are being committed against women. Ladies, we need to recognize that any abuse on any level is not okay, whether verbal, physical or both. Love does not hurt! Abuse affects a person’s spirit, lowers her self-esteem and dangerously contributes to stress, high blood pressure and depression. Children that are subjected to these acts of violence have a tendency to suffer from some of the same effects as well. And even in spite of any protective orders in place to supposedly ensure the safety of women, more and more women are being murdered at the hands of their partners. This has become a terrible, quickly growing trend that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, within the next year the current laws concerning domestic violence will be made stricter by our legislators, and be taken more seriously by men and women alike.
Ladies, if you or anyone you suspect are a victim of domestic violence, please don’t sit back and do nothing. We do not have to be victims. Women and children are losing their lives every day at the hands of a loved one, but this should never be the norm. If you want to take a stand against someone you know to be a perpetrator of domestic violence, please call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-SAFE (7233). Their online contact address can be found at DomesticShelters.org.
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