FROM PTSD TO PTS-FREE
Providing Support for Survivors of Domestic Violence and / or Sexual Assault by Giving Them a Voice.|Let’s continue the conversation… #WhyILeft, #WhyIStayed, #HowILeft, #YesAllWomen…
SHOCKING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS
%
percent of women are victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes.
%
percent of homeless families identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness.
%
percent of gay or bisexual men who will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes.
%
The percentage of financial abuse that occurs in all domestic violence cases.
[Video] How we turned the tide on Domestic Violence
When Esta Soler lobbied for a bill outlawing domestic violence in 1984, one politician called it the “Take the Fun Out of Marriage Act.” “If only I had Twitter then,” she mused. This sweeping, optimistic talk charts 30 years of tactics and technologies — from the Polaroid camera to social media — that led to a […]
From the Editor
I could not stop the inappropriate giggles during my rape kit. Humor (especially inappropriate humor) was always my defense mechanism. I thought that it was better for me to crack jokes than to break down and cry. The nurses even asked “why is she laughing” – and that phrase stuck in my head…
It echoed for months as I worked with police and prosecutors. It echoed while I tried to focus on m “day job”. But while I heard that echo there still was a voice inside my head that reminded me that “things like this do not happen to people like me”… Like many other victims, I felt shame and embarrassment; how could I let this happen. I worked with counselors – and found an unlikely support group via a Facebook group. I heard stories from other women, and the island upon which I felt oh so isolated started to connect to the outside world.
I found myself reading stories published by other media outlets – like ThoughtCatalog, HuffingtonPost, and MindBodyGreen. While I was in love with what they published I found myself craving more – wishing there was just one site that would focus on domestic violence and sexual assault. I wanted to read personal stories. It was comforting to me that I was not the only person struggling in the way I was.
Sometimes I feel that it is socially acceptable for one, who is recovering from a severe illness, or addiction to vocalize their recovery – but it is quite jarring to admit (and probably to hear) one say “I am a recovering rape victim survivor”. This is one of the many reasons I want to bring awareness to the recovery/healing process. And thus became my desire to build a community. I wanted to build a community, a compilation of stories from real people.
~ WISL Editor