October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

There is so much talk going about Domestic Violence as October is in support of raising awareness. Many people often choose a specific cause, that may or may not come close to their heart, to support. In addition to other causes I feel are important, I support domestic violence victims (women and men). It is truly unfortunate, but domestic violence has such high statistics. For instance, 1 in 4 women will have been abused in some way (mental, physical, emotional, sexual, financial) before they are 18 years of age. Let's just take a moment to let that number sink in... 25% OF WOMEN UNDER 18 YEARS OLD ARE ABUSED.
Recently, I have read a book called, "Conversations with Jean." The general premise being that the mother of Jean, both real people, is writing out the timeline of conversations between the two while Jean and her (former) husband are going through the divorce process. Now, how does this relate to domestic violence? Jean (real person) was abused by her husband, Bill - thus causing the divorce. The most important part of this book is that Jean never reported Bill putting a single hand on her or her children. He was emotionally abusive and monetarily controlling. Too many people hear about domestic violence and think beatings and bruises. Jean was a very caring and fair person to everyone in her life, but especially to Bill throughout the divorce, and in the end Bill still murdered her. The unique thing about this book is the fact that the real life journal of Bill is printed between conversations Jean and her mother had. Bill had kept a journal, documenting his inconsistent thoughts about Jean. One moment they were about how he loved and missed her, and then the next was about how he'll get his revenge and murder her someday (even began plotting it).
This is story is just so inspiring because of the different kind of abuse it portrayed. There was nothing physical going on, but she still is dead in the end. She was always so careful; following rules with the court system, showed up at her meetings timely, took extra care of her self and children by hiding in secrecy, carrying an emergency phone and life alert necklace, but in the end she was still murdered. Domestic Violence awareness is so important an I think this book helps spread the severity of domestic violence in general, but also gives that shock factor that domestic violence is not always physical. "Conversations with Jean" is an easy and fast read with all of the information. I would recommend this book to anyone. It is so important to get the domestic violence information out any way possible.