domestic violence
Tonight my spouse and I helped a neighbor with a domestic violence issue. We helped her call the cops, bring her to the commissioners office to file charges, and brought her to a relative's place to stay. The guy is running around my neighborhood somewhere. They had dated earlier in the year but he assaulted her, so she broke it off with the guy. She moved but he apparently found out where she moved to and basically stalked her for a bit. Then he acted all nice, apologizing, brought down her guard, she let him in so he could shower and eat, then demanded that she give him some money. When she wouldn't, he went on the rampage, assaulted her and then stole her keys to her new apartment. That was today. He wouldn't give back the keys and she was, understandably, upset about it. They were fighting in front of my window. I am glad that we and another neighbor were able to help her out a bit. (Oh, the nice thing that came out of this was that we met a new neighbor, she's been here for a few years and seems really nice.
So my neighborhood kind of scares me. All in all, I like my neighbors) the part that makes me scared is related to my last blog post. This adds to my fear. I don't understand human anger...well, I guess anger of any sort very much. I don't know its limits. Will this guy, out of his anger at us for stepping in like that, try to take out his anger on us? Anger that he was going to reserve only for that woman? Apparently he not only stole her keys and beat her, but raped her and stole her pay check (which she had just cashed).
Two years ago, a woman I knew from work was killed by her ex-boyfriend. She had broken up with him and had kicked him out of the apartment. I don't know how long they had been dating but I think for a long time (maybe 11 years? they have a kid together). In any case, he came over to her place one night. An argument ensued. The woman told her daughters to go into the bedroom while that guy was there. Essentially, the guy stabbed her several times in the abdomen. He was wearing gloves and so there were no prints on the weapon. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. One of her daughters had to call 911. She died before she got to the hospital. I worry at times about the child they had together ("my momma's dead because she was brutally killed by my poppa"). He got indicted for manslaughter. Prison time for manslaughter is less than prison time for being indicted for stealing a car here. I guess we know what our priorities are here.
So here is my plug. If you or anyone you know is in a domestic violence situation, here's the number to call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Here is the website information: http://www.ndvh.org/ It is a national organization and they can put you in touch with the organization in your neighborhood. Domestic violence is not limited to particular age, ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender, or education levels. Emotional and physical abuse is considered domestic violence.
So my neighborhood kind of scares me. All in all, I like my neighbors) the part that makes me scared is related to my last blog post. This adds to my fear. I don't understand human anger...well, I guess anger of any sort very much. I don't know its limits. Will this guy, out of his anger at us for stepping in like that, try to take out his anger on us? Anger that he was going to reserve only for that woman? Apparently he not only stole her keys and beat her, but raped her and stole her pay check (which she had just cashed).
Two years ago, a woman I knew from work was killed by her ex-boyfriend. She had broken up with him and had kicked him out of the apartment. I don't know how long they had been dating but I think for a long time (maybe 11 years? they have a kid together). In any case, he came over to her place one night. An argument ensued. The woman told her daughters to go into the bedroom while that guy was there. Essentially, the guy stabbed her several times in the abdomen. He was wearing gloves and so there were no prints on the weapon. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. One of her daughters had to call 911. She died before she got to the hospital. I worry at times about the child they had together ("my momma's dead because she was brutally killed by my poppa"). He got indicted for manslaughter. Prison time for manslaughter is less than prison time for being indicted for stealing a car here. I guess we know what our priorities are here.
So here is my plug. If you or anyone you know is in a domestic violence situation, here's the number to call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Here is the website information: http://www.ndvh.org/ It is a national organization and they can put you in touch with the organization in your neighborhood. Domestic violence is not limited to particular age, ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender, or education levels. Emotional and physical abuse is considered domestic violence.
posted by Matty Lau at
9:18 PM
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