People often excuse inaction by saying that they have better things to do than care about domestic violence. Domestic violence is the number one killer of American women from 14 through 44 and a top killer of women in other age groups. For eighty million American women, and girls, legislation in support of gay marriage, animal rights, abortion rights, or an end to violence in other countries is nowhere near as critical as legislation to stop the exploitation, beating and killing of women here at home. Today, here in America, women need funding directed towards ending domestic violence, the worst epidemic a woman can encounter and the one with the least funding in the United States. In America more funding is authorized to get rid of a kid some man doesn't want than to treat an injury caused by a beating. When an epidemic is killing you, it is hard to have sympathy for other causes. Women do care about the other issues, but less so because those pushing those other causes are doing little or nothing to help women who are in a life and death struggle at home. In some cases, batterers get support from peace groups, gay rights groups and other action groups if they provide money to those causes. This leaves women feeling betrayed and alone. If others working for their share of the pie want the support of the majority of women, they need to do their part to oppose domestic violence and to make it undesirable to hit a woman.
For those who have placed ending domestic violence as a low
priority, here are a couple of poems to consider.
The Cycle
by Samantha Savanah
Women dying
Children crying
Men keep plying
Society's frying
Women charmed
Then alarmed
Children harmed
Killed unarmed.
This is a variation on Pastor Martin Niemoller's poem you should consider:
The Domestic Violence Victim is All of Us
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