Are You Abused?
Here's What to do.

http://www.ncpc.org/1safe2dc.htm

http://www.lcsj.org

http://www.amva-doc.org/publications/WCHealthbook/vilenceamwach10.html

As many as four million women in this country suffer some kind of violence at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends each year.

Very few will tell anyone - a friend, a relative, a neighbor, or the police.

Victims of domestic violence come from all walks of life, all cultures, all income groups, all ages, all religions. They share feelings of helplessness, isolation, guilt, fear, and shame.

Are You Abused?

Does the Person You Love...

  • Keep track of all of your time?
  • Constantly accuse you of being unfaithful?
  • Discourage your relationships with family and friends?
  • Prevent you from working or attending school?
  • Criticize you for little things?
  • Anger easily when drinking or using other drugs?
  • Control all finances and force you to account in detail for what you spend?
  • Humiliate you in front of others?
  • Destroy personal property or sentimental items?
  • Hit, punch, slap, kick, or bite you or the children?
  • Use or threaten to use a weapon against you?
  • Threaten to hurt you or the children?
  • Force you to have sex against your will?

If you find yourself saying yes to any of these - it's time to get help.

Don't Ignore the Problem

  • Talk to someone. Part of the abuser's power comes from secrecy. Victims are often ashamed to let anyone know about intimate family problems. Go to a friend or neighbor, or call a domestic violence hotline to talk to a counselor.
  • Plan ahead and know what you will do if you're attacked again. If you decide to leave, choose a place to go; set aside some money. Put important papers - marriage license, birth certificates, checkbooks - in a place where you can get them quickly.
  • Learn to think independently. Try to plan for the future and set goals for yourself.

If You Are Hurt, What Can You Do?

There are no easy answers, but there are things you can do to protect yourself.

  • Call the police or sheriff. Assault, even by family members, is a crime. The police often have information about shelters and other agencies that help victims of domestic violence.
  • Leave, or have someone come and stay with you. Go to a battered women's shelter - call a crisis hotline in your community or a health center to locate a shelter. If you believe that you, and your children, are in danger - leave immediately.
  • Get medical attention from your doctor or a hospital emergency room. Ask the staff to photograph your injuries and keep detailed records in case you decide to take legal action.
  • Contact your family court for information about a civil protection order that does not involve criminal charges or penalties.
Bible verses to ponder:
 
Prov 22:24-25 (KJV)
  Make no friendship with an angry man;
and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
{25} Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
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Mat 10:16 (KJV)
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:
be ye therefore wise as serpents,
and harmless as doves.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psa 140:1-4 (KJV) .
Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man:
preserve me from the violent man; {2} Which imagine mischiefs in their heart;
continually are they gathered together for war.
{3} They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent;
adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.
{4} Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from the violent man;
who have purposed to overthrow my goings.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Isa 29:20-21 (TLB)
{20}Bullies will vanish and scoffers will cease,
and all those plotting evil will be killed--
{21} the violent man who fights at the drop of a hat,
the man who waits in hiding to beat up the judge who sentenced him,
and the men who use any excuse to be unfair.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Psa 140 (TLB)
O Lord, deliver me from evil men.
Preserve me from the violent,
{2} who plot and stir up trouble all day long.
{3} Their words sting like poisonous snakes.
 {4} Keep me out of their power.
Preserve me from their violence,
for they are plotting against me.
 
{5} These proud men have set a trap to catch me,
a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air;
 they wait in ambush with a net
to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.
 
 {6} O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior,
my God and my shield--hear me as I pray!
Don't let these wicked men succeed;
don't let them prosper and be proud.
{7} {8} {9} Let their plots boomerang!
Let them be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me.
 {10} Let burning coals fall down upon their heads,
or throw them into the fire
or into deep pits from which they can't escape.
 
 {11} Don't let liars prosper here in our land;
quickly punish them.
 
{12} But the Lord will surely help those they persecute;
 he will maintain the rights of the poor.
 
{13} Surely the godly are thanking you,
 for they shall live in your presence.
IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN DEVOTIONALS
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