Black and Blue
It happens in silence, a silence all too terrifying, and it is happening right next door. It is estimated by the FBI that two to four million women get battered each year in the United States and a thousand four hundred of those lives will be lost. Slapping, punching, kicking, choking, biting all make up the physical section of abuse. Adding onto that is sexual abuse, such as forced sexual acts like rape. Maybe worst of all, is the psychological damage received by the victim, because it is impossible to forget how your husband pushed you down and killed the baby that was growing inside you. Emotional scars stay forever and they could change the way a person feels, it changes their self-esteem for the worse. As horrifying as abuse is, women often stay in these relationships. They hide what is happening to them from coworkers, friends, and family, that is if they have any left. Fearing that without their spouse they would be left penniless on the mean streets and in dan!ger, the danger of their partner becoming so angry that they will come after them, to kill. If a child is concerned, the secret further deepens because all of a sudden another life is involved. Too many women feel ashamed that this is happening to them an
Just like abuse can happen to anyone, anyone can be an abuser. There is no racial background, or certain age group that are responsible for domestic abuse. Usually though, a man who beats his girlfriend or wife is an individual who harbors a lot of anger (Duke pg. 1). Bobby Benedetto has anger. Working as a police officer, Bobby saw enough violence that it had finally leaked into his personal life. "I am a police officer for the City of New York," exclaimed Bobby when once on trial for beating up a suspect (Quindlen 5). Studies also show that many domestic abuse situations occur when alcohol is involved, because alcohol impairs judgement it is very likely that someone under the influence would resort to violence (AMA Insight 2). Anna Quindlen uses to make the story more realistic, her character Bobby is a frequent drinker throughout the book. Beating episodes in the book often include Bobby drinking. "Nashville Police Department: Domestic Violence section." Online. Internet. 28 Apr. Apr. 2000. Available WWW: http:freenet.tlh.fl.us./health gazette/d. It might be hard to understand, but domestic abuse is not about the act of hitting and hurting and bruising and killing. Karl Hempel, M.D. of the Health Gazette says, "Domestic violence is a pattern of controlling behaviors aimed at gaining power in order to control and intimate partner. Domestic violence is about power and control" (Domestic Violence 1). This concept is often linked with the abuser's career or what they saw in their own family as children. Perhaps there is no real reason why it happens; nevertheless it does happen every sleepless night in numerous homes in neighborhoods just like any other. Thousands of articles, pamphlets and books have been written on the subject in an effort to enlighten the population on domestic abuse. Anna Quindlen, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist, wrote her book Black and Blue on the issue, and except for a few inaccuracies did an accurate job of portraying a fictional account of abuse and its perpetrators, the vi! Hempel, Karl M.D. "The Health Gazette: Domestic Violence." On-line. Internet. 28 "AMA Health Insight: Domestic Abuse." 1995. On-line. Internet. 28 April 2000 Abuse." On-line. Internet. 28 Apr. 2000. Available WWW: AOL Keyword Anna Quindlen portrays abuse in such a convincing manner that a picture as clear as daylight appears before the reader's eyes. "...and then it happened, just like that, three good punches that I remember and then I came to maybe an hour later, covered in blood, my nose and tongue numb" (Quindlen 171). Then, Anna Quindlen goes beyond the punching, kicking and screaming, into the emotional abuse. She describes how isolated Frances became and how humiliated she felt. Keeping family and friends away is called isolation and abusers often make their partners become distant from other people in order to keep the abuse a secret. (Hempel pg. 2).
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2712
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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