Domestic Violence

Terresa McKenzie’s response Huffington Post "Las Vegas Shooter Was Known To Verbally Abuse His Girlfriend In Public."

Every six days I work with women who are affected by domestic violence. Misogynistic attitudes create breeding grounds for rationalized violence. And yet, as a society we so often treat victims as though they need to minimize and silence the abuse that they endure, and disregard the intensity and effects it has on families in private, behind closed doors.

In Canada, every six days, a woman or child dies from domestic violence homicides and according to a study done by Shelley Saywell, an alarming 83% of victims are women and their cases often go unreported because of the culture of shame and fear. Additionally, one-quarter of all victims of police-reported violent crimes were victimized by a family member. These statistics are not okay .

At what point are we going to start taking this seriously, and lifting those affected by domestic violence up, rather than punishing them for advocating for themselves? Maybe if his girlfriend felt safe to seek help this could have potentially been avoided? Why does a person who engages in this kind of treatment of another individual whom he supposedly loves, have access to this arsenal of firearms and deadly equipment?

Weather it’s ridiculing a person in public or dragging them down the stairs, it all falls under the same misogynistic umbrella of violence. In conjunction of policy changes, community support, awareness, and creating a culture of safety, those affected by domestic violence can finally begin to heal and fulfill their purpose.

s I am sure this is weighing heavily on all of us right now, it makes me so incredibly sad. It is rippling through in all my sessions with clients, and has intensified fear and anxiety for everyone. This fear and anxiety can either silence and harden us or it can teach us we need to start having increased critical thinking, compassion, awareness and frank conversations around these issues.

My heart goes out to the families of this tragedy, but we must honor these people in a meaningful way and do everything we can to prevent this from continuing to happen.