A UNION OF AWARENESS

This website has been created to give women and men an avenue to express themselves on the topic of Gendered Violence. People who are affected by Gendered Violence don’t usually seek help from the Police, or family members because they are afraid of the repercussions from their abusers. I’ve created this website for those people to let them speak their minds or see that there are others who want to make a difference. Some have chosen to remain nameless, but their stories still are powerful.

 

Here is a poem I wrote for my friend. I wasn’t able to help her in any way except through writing. She was beaten by her boyfriend and is too afraid to leave.

 

Run to me

So you can be free

I am the man who wants to be with you

There's no need to fear

I'm going to be here

Always,

to protect and to love you.

 Are you really going to turn

and walk back to the man

who beat you with his hands

Are you really going to turn

And walk away from me.

 

Just walk this way and feel my touch

My love will keep you warm

My love will treat you right

There's nothing to fear

So wipe away your tears

Come with me and don't worry

I just want you to be happy

However long you need

Is ok with me.

 So don't turn and go back to the man

who beat you with his hands

Stay with me

so you can be free.

 

THIS POEM/STORY WAS WRITTEN BY A FRIEND OF MINE

The darkness envelops her like a shroud. Lies and deceit are all she knows now. In love with a fantasy that can no longer be, running blindly through the shifting shadows of the place she once called home. This once familiar, comforting place has rotted and crumbled until she cannot find her way. The monster has run rampant here, spreading his hate and disease, destroyed it all. Still here chasing, clawing, and gnawing at her. Closing in with rapid speed the monster pounces upon her.

His stinking breath, smelling of fleshy decay fills her nostrils with its putrid odor. The monster reaches out to stroke her cheek, slowly closing in to take her and make her his own. She cannot think of a more unspeakable terror. She will not live the rest of her life in his version of hell. Summoning all of her waning strength, she fights with the last part of her that is still sane and part of the life that she once knew.

Just as she’s ready to throw the final, fatal blow the monster shifts a bit and she sees the man he once was. The man she was once in love with. How could she do this to him? How could she hurt him, this man that she loves? He leans closer and she realizes it was just a glimmer of the man she knew and now the monster below shows through once more. This is the real him, the one that she can no longer tolerate. The one that has destroyed her life. With swift strength and accuracy, she delivers the final blow to the monster’s throat and watches as his life’s blood drains.

Once again, she is free to be the woman that she once was. No longer shackled and cowed by the monster that was once a man.

 

 

 

THIS WAS WRITTEN BY A WOMAN WHO IS STRONGER THAN ANYONE WHO I HAVE EVER MET.

I LOOKED AT THE MAN WHO STOOD OVER ME
HE HAD A BLANKENESS IN HIS EYES
AND BLOOD ON HIS HANDS
THERE WAS AN EMPTINESS ABOUT HIM
AND I KNEW I WAS TRAPPED
YOU CAN TELL IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE SAFE
BY THE LOOK IN A MAN'S EYES
IF HE SHOWS SYMPATHY OR FEAR
THEN YOU HAVE A CHANCE
IF YOU SEE NOTHING AT ALL
THEN YOU'LL BE IN HELL
THANKFULLY,
I WAS ALLOWED TO GO FREE
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?
WHO CARES ABOUT ME
BY MADELINE 03/04/04

 

TELL ME A STORY AND I'LL TELL YOU MINE
IF YOUR STORY IS HAPPY
THEN MINE IS DEPRESSING
DOES YOUR STORY HAVE A DAD
CAUSE MINE DOES
DOES YOUR STORY MAKE YOU CRY
CAUSE MINE DOES
DOES YOUR STORY END WITH HAPPILY EVER AFTER
CAUSE MINE DOESN'T
MY STORY IS ONGOING
ANONYMOUS 04/13/04