To create awareness.
What would your first impulse be if you discovered a case of abuse next door? Would you call the police or would you choose to turn away because ‘it’s none of your business’? For most people, it would be the latter. Now picture this: if the house next door was on fire, would you seek help? Of course, you would.
If we can readily save someone from a fire or a mishap, why can we not do the same for someone getting hurt at the hands of another person?
Physical and mental abuse is shockingly common in society, yet everyone feels comfortable casting a blind eye to it. Why? Because there is a sense of shame and taboo surrounding it. And it is created by the culture of victim-blaming.
‘Why couldn’t they leave?’
‘Why didn’t they tell someone?’
‘Why were they in it for so long?’
The answer: Shame.
Abuse victims feel trapped and silenced. When you suffer pain, hurt, and humiliation at the hands of another person, your soul withers, your flesh is left scarred, and through the torrents of hopelessness, you have only one coherent thought: you want to give up. Fear is a strong emotion. No one wants to be shamed and blamed and faulted if they come forward and reveal their plight, and it keeps victims from speaking up sooner. A lot of people tend to look upon abuse survivors as a shameful blotch on society, as though there was something wrong with them that called for the abuse.
NO.
There is nothing anyone can ever do to deserve abuse of any kind. Some people, like me, will never be strong enough to talk about the scars they bear. But I have the gift of the written word, and I hope to send out a subtle message through my tales.
If you ever encounter abuse, whether it is happening to you or someone you know, please seek help. One small step can change so many lives, for the better.