WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO
WITH IT?
To her everlasting credit, she was one of the first famous women to “come out” about the beatings, tongue lashings, and rapes she had to live with constantly and in her own home.
Tina Turner, the
wonderful singer and dancer, lived in a battering relationship with her
husband, Ike Turner for years. A made-for-TV movie showed clearly how hard it
was for her to get away from him both physically, emotionally, and financially.
To her everlasting credit, she was one of the first famous women to “come out” about the beatings, tongue lashings, and rapes she had to live with constantly and in her own home.
In the past few
years, many more stars from all kinds of media have “come out” about their
abusive relationship(s). I don’t know if this has contributed to the lower
number of annual murders that American batterers commit, but the national number seems to be very
slowly going down.
One factor in
fewer deaths during these women’s relationship with the batterer or after she leaves, may be that judges, lawyers, and other
court professionals are being trained in greater numbers so that many no longer
believe a woman is to blame for defending herself any way she can against the
batterer’s assaults, for “talking back”, for not leaving.
More of these men (and the greatest majority are men) are being fined for breaking Restraining Orders. More of them are
going to jail. They are finding it harder to prove “she started it” or “hey, look
how she hurt me.”
What have you
done today to understand the plight of someone who has no money, no car, no
friends or relatives nearby who will help her appropriately?
Someone who may have already been threatened with her own death, her pet’s, or losing her children
or someone else she loves if she leaves?
Don’t judge a
battered woman if you haven’t been there. The problem is so complex. You have no idea.
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