"The most admired heroes of any culture are those who have stood up to tyranny and oppression and fought for liberty
and justice. Yet rarely have these acclaimed heroes battled alone, without weapons or troops of any sort, with
children in tow, and with the enemy entrenched in their home, in their hearts, and sleeping in their beds. Yet these
are exactly the extreme and painful conditions under which women all over the world set out to make their escapes from domestic
violence [and in my case a man]. And even so, right up until today, the bravery [of our] struggles for freedom is still
too often met with the cruelty of questions like "Why don't you just get up and leave," instead of being given the admiration
and respect their struggles deserve. So as you start out on your own struggle
to get free of domestic violence, remind yourself often, even though others may not, that yours is one of the most difficult
and worthy struggles of all. You are rescuing yourself and your children from a life of terror and crushed spirits.
Your struggle to escape the oppression of domestic violence elevates the dignity of all women, [men, children] and brings
your whole community closer to the ideals of liberty and justice for all" Marie De
Santis, Women's Justice Center.
Sometime in July 2001 began to dissociate
This picture represents how I
felt in my mind's eyes: Alone, in silence, lost in the desert .
Frankie's major tool to continue
the violence was to isolate me and demand silence about the abuse. As he would say, "never get the police involved on
our problems, and never tell about what happened because we stick together."
Telling the
world about domestic violence: A road to survival
I finally realized that breaking the silence was my
tool to free myself from his abuse. When I began telling the authorities and other people I started the process to gain
my life and freedom back.
This site is my tribute in honor of every person
who escaped from the tyranny and oppression of domestic violence, to every one struggling for freedom from domestic violence,
and to EVERYONE who helped me to survive domestic violence.
If you have any questions please e-mail me. I am here to support you survive domestic violence,
I will share everything I learned with you. As a survivor, it is my duty to share the tools that helped me survive the
trauma of domestic violence so that others may use them on their own road to survival. I am here for you. You can survive
domestic violence too!
Everyone is encouraged to join our fight against DV and break the silence
of DV to find liberty and justice. Visit the Stopping the Silence Group where our community comes together to help each other to stay safely free of domestic violence and secure a peaceful
new life.
