Life between the sheets (of paper) is not always rosy. And I know people like to read about the ‘rosy,’ because there’s so much evil and trauma in the world that it can be overwhelming. I understand.
The issue of violence, domestic violence, is one of those non-rosy topics but it’s important to talk about.
Even after many years, my own experience is hard to discuss. Victims/Survivors feel judged if they talk about the topic, sometimes by others and other times by themselves.
Suffice it to say that domestic violence can be deadly at worse and traumatic at best.
I’ve heard it said that writers work out their own issues in story. There’s a lot of truth in that. In one of my novels (unpublished) the main character experiences violence. The opening lines:
I didn’t run because I killed him. I ran because I didn’t. He was alive when I left, but that wasn’t important to the judge who sentenced me to San Bueno Correctional Facility. He was sure of two things: Alek was dead and I was the one who did it.
These are the black and white statistics:
Nearly one in four women, one in seven men and more than 3 million children in the United States are affected by domestic violence.
You can help change those numbers.
Assistance is a used cell phone away.
HopeLine phones are refurbished phones equipped with 3,000 anytime minutes of airtime and texting capabilities. They come with Verizon Wireless Nationwide Coverage, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling, Caller ID, Basic Voice Mail and texting.
They are available to survivors affiliated with participating domestic violence agencies. This program has collected over 10 million phones, while donating over $18 million dollars to domestic violence organizations.
A great explanation of the program can be found here.
Through HopeLine, the public can help prevent domestic violence by donating no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories in any condition from any service provider at any Verizon Wireless Store, by mail or at special events held throughout the year.
How to Donate
If you donate your phone, erase any personal data from the address book, deleting call logs, erasing messages, removing stored photos and other media. As part of the refurbishing process, phones donated to HopeLine are scrubbed prior to distributing them for reuse to ensure all customer data is removed.
Three ways to help HopeLine:
In Person: Drop phones at any Verizon Wireless communications Store. Visit the online store locator.
By Mail: Print a postage-paid label , adhere it to the box/envelope and mail.
Organize a Phone Drive Suggestions and Tips
Now go find those old phones stashed in the junk drawer and help someone fight back.
alvaradofrazier.com 
Very useful (gut-wrenching though the topic is) information. Gonna reblog…
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Reblogged this on A Blog by Juan Blea and commented:
This is a very useful and important resource I NEED to share…
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Thank you for reblogging the post. Sharing info helps in more ways that passing along information. Sharing helps ‘de-stigmatize’ the subject.
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Thank you for this. Tough topic and timely, with October around the corner. Each year I hold a ‘Refusing Silence’ workshop for women to support our local groups that help battered women. Every bit helps raise awareness and offer a lifeline to those of us affected.
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And thank you with what you do for incarcerated women. I believe that talking about this issue, like any traumatic one, helps more than hurts-especially with supportive listeners.
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Harsh reality that needs to be constantly spoken about. You’re right about the stigma attached to all forms of abuse and violence in general against human beings. It is hard to tell for the victim and hard to understand by anyone who hasn’t been one. I think this is why it takes so long to stop domestic violence. Also because it takes place at home and is commited by relatives or people close to the victims, it shatters our beliefs in haven and love, in turn making it harder to address.
I hope that your novel will be published because I like how you write about this hard topic.
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Well said, Evelyne. I hope to have my novel published soon too!
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