October is DV Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. Every year in October, programs across our country bring awareness to this issue that affects so many people here and across the world. DV is vicious and traumatic. We need to talk about it, not just in October, but all year long, until it stops.

How does talking about it help? Once you know what DV is, you will start to recognize when it’s happening to someone you know: your neighbor, your classmate, your co-worker, your sister, your mother, or maybe even yourself.Once you recognize it, you can do something about it. Give the person in the abusive situation your support – let them know it’s not their fault. Give them a hotline phone number and encourage them to call it. Let them know that they’re not alone, and that there are programs available to help them.
As awareness increases, so does the realization that there are so many in need of help:

 

·       At least one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence at some time in their life.

·         Three people die every day in our country due to domestic violence.

This is unacceptable to me.  If we all work together, we can break the cycle and end the violence. Please visit our website www.hopehouse.net to see what you can do to get involved. For example:

·         Give someone our hotline number (816-461-HOPE).

·         Volunteer to answer the hotline.

·         Ask someone from Hope House to speak at your office about recognizing DV in the workplace.

We need your help. People’s lives depend on it.

Pat Robertson On Wife Beating



Pat Robertson

I recently saw a headline that read “Pat Robertson,Televangelist, Encourages Man to Become Muslim So He Can Beat His Wife”.

I was appalled before I even got to the context of the article. I couldn’t imagine any scenario where this statement would be okay to think to yourself, let alone say it out loud.

As I read the article and then watched the video clip, I actually felt sick to my stomach. My daughter was sitting in the room with me and said in alarm, “Mom, you don’t look well! Are you okay?” I responded, “No, I am not okay”. 

Many people respect this man, and he is telling a man to move to Saudi Arabia so he can beat his wife. The look on my daughter’s face, I suspect, was similar to the one on mine.

I am angry that we still have people who think it is okay to make light of domestic violence, condone it, or even recommend it. I don’t begin to know what Pat Robertson was thinking when he made the comment, but whatever it was, in my opinion, it was completely inappropriate.

In the video clip he we hear him saying “She doesn’t want to submit to authority” and since “scripture doesn’t allow for divorce” his advice is to move to Saudi Arabia become Muslim, and then he can beat her into submission.

I find this offensive on so many fronts. I am not going to debate what the Bible or the Quran say about wives, submission or divorce. I understand everyone has his or her own belief system about marriage and religion.

However, domestic violence is not okay, ever. It is not okay to joke about it, or to suggest that it’s a way for a man to get his wife to recognize his authority over her.

We must stand together to say this is not acceptable under any circumstance.