Research for the win!
Ok, so I think my head is gonna be ok. Turns out more knowledge is the answer. *
The thing that set me off was a 911 call that starts and ends a vlog about domestic violence. It is a young girl calling police, witnessing her mother being attacked by her father. It sounds like the mother dies, but it turns out that both the mum and girl are ok, and the guy went to prison.
This recording was so awful that I actually was feeling sad not only for the victims, but also the abuser. As in, this situation has killed one woman, scarred a child for life and a man has gone to prison. This IS the end game with DV - although not everyone ends up there.
I had actually decided to make this video the last slide in my presentation, even though it was so disturbing. I figured that a) while all DV doesn't end in a death, at least one a week does, and that needs to be really understood by everyone (victims, perpetrators, family exposed, the rest of us etc; b) there is no way you don't understand how children suffer from being exposed to violence after listening to this recording and c) there is NO WAY you will ever forget this presentation with this at the end. But I was going to suggest explaining what you were about to hear and offering people the chance to leave first. All that stays true, but I would also say that the people in this recording are ok.
I feel like I can breathe again… but the reality is that while this case was not fatal, so many are. This is actually happening somewhere, possibly right now. And that is so not ok.
But you know, I am also worried it is going to kind of give me tunnel vision. I was watching an ad about suicide being the biggest cause of death for men under 44 - and I was thinking "got plenty of money for an ad campaign and huge resources to combat that though, don't cha. Cause, you know, men. White men. So it is an important issue".
But to be fair, there is a new campaign being launched that has a 20 year plan to combat DV. Headed up by Natasha Stott-Despoja, with seemingly a decent funding.
*Usually is, right?
The thing that set me off was a 911 call that starts and ends a vlog about domestic violence. It is a young girl calling police, witnessing her mother being attacked by her father. It sounds like the mother dies, but it turns out that both the mum and girl are ok, and the guy went to prison.
This recording was so awful that I actually was feeling sad not only for the victims, but also the abuser. As in, this situation has killed one woman, scarred a child for life and a man has gone to prison. This IS the end game with DV - although not everyone ends up there.
I had actually decided to make this video the last slide in my presentation, even though it was so disturbing. I figured that a) while all DV doesn't end in a death, at least one a week does, and that needs to be really understood by everyone (victims, perpetrators, family exposed, the rest of us etc; b) there is no way you don't understand how children suffer from being exposed to violence after listening to this recording and c) there is NO WAY you will ever forget this presentation with this at the end. But I was going to suggest explaining what you were about to hear and offering people the chance to leave first. All that stays true, but I would also say that the people in this recording are ok.
I feel like I can breathe again… but the reality is that while this case was not fatal, so many are. This is actually happening somewhere, possibly right now. And that is so not ok.
But you know, I am also worried it is going to kind of give me tunnel vision. I was watching an ad about suicide being the biggest cause of death for men under 44 - and I was thinking "got plenty of money for an ad campaign and huge resources to combat that though, don't cha. Cause, you know, men. White men. So it is an important issue".
But to be fair, there is a new campaign being launched that has a 20 year plan to combat DV. Headed up by Natasha Stott-Despoja, with seemingly a decent funding.
*Usually is, right?