Posts Tagged ‘Victim’
The Forgotten Victim
The Forgotten Victim
© Alison Henderson
‘That’s her there! her hubby’s inside!’
‘How can she stand by him?’ a neighbor cried!
‘I’d throw away the lock and key!’
‘That husband of hers should never be free!’
‘That woman can do so much better than him!’
‘I’d throw all his letters away in the bin!’
‘Just what can he offer now he’s locked away?’
‘A complete waste of space!’ she shouted that day.
‘That’s the one there! her boyfriend’s inside!
‘He’s scum of the earth!’ a neighbors implied!
‘If I was her, well I’d meet someone else!
‘Not wasting my life to be left on the shelf!
‘That woman’s been left to cope with the shame’
‘It was all over the papers! and gave out his name’
‘He’s useless! A criminal! Bring back the rope!’
‘He’ll do it again! for him there’s no hope!’
My comment:
That man you condemn has a child and a wife
A Mum and a Dad who has given him life!
What would you do if this happened to yours?
Deny all your love and close all the doors?
Do you honestly think I’d sink to a level
And just turn my back and deem him a devil?
Yes! He’s done wrong and is serving his time
And No! I do not agree with his crime.
‘That woman’ you point at, yes it is me
I was born with a name, as I’m human you see!
I’m innocent! just incase you’ve forgot
And love him whether you like it or not!
I’ve had the abuse, the comments and more
It’s nothing I haven’t heard all before
I mean no offense when I say this to you
I’m a victim as well- A forgotten one too.
Read more prison poetry here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Life Behind Bars
There are so many people walking around that are living behind their own private bars – bars no one else can see but them. Pain, fear, humiliation, anger, and shame, these are the bars a victim looks through every day. It is so easy to feel sorry for the people behind bars because you can see their physical bars, but no one sees the emotional ones that a victim faces every morning. You get up, comb your hair, brush your teeth, put on a smile, and the whole time you’re dying inside. For years that was my life. Sometimes I wondered why I existed, but somewhere deep inside me I knew God had a plan for me. It may be something as simple as me telling someone they can be free one bar at a time, then so be it! I’ll help you help me and together we can pull down the bars of pain, fear, anger, shame and finally be free.
Posted by Karen
Raped Beyond a Shadow of Doubt
Raped beyond a Shadow of Doubt was inspired by the films THE FARM and SHADOWS OF DOUBT. Most people that watched the films had already made their minds up, innocent or guilty, but there were those who still had questions. I felt like it was up to me to answer them in the only way I knew how. That was to put it in black and white, but more than the films I wanted to give hope to someone who was struggling with finding peace and hope for their life. I hoped to give someone the strength to face another day.
Was it hard? Oh yeah it was hard. I had to go back and reopen all those old wounds. Some days I couldn’t put the pen down, and some days I couldn’t pick the pen up. It took me three years to write my book. I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t just about getting my story out, it was about helping someone. I replayed him raping me over and over in my head, long after I had laid the pen down. Was it worth it? If my story helps just one hurting person, then it was worth every sleepless night I spent writing.
Raped Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt can be bought here.
Posted by Karen
No matter how far I think I’ve come…
No matter how far I think I’ve come someone can bring you right back to all those past angers. I was checking my E-mail and there was a letter from a lady who believes Vincent is innocent. I’m okay with that, she is entitled to think what she wants to. What made me angry was I felt like I needed to defend myself all over again for the thousandth time, and what would be the point, in the end she will still believe what she wants to believe. I think the thing that got to me more than the letter is I let it get to me. I let it take me back to that place of anger that I’ve worked so hard to move past, but I thought about it and realized it was okay for me to feel angry, that’s a part of life, It’s just not okay for me to stay there. Sometimes it’s good to visit all those old feelings because it reminds you how for you’ve come.
Posted by Karen
Victims – the Unheard
Victims are the voices never heard, the eyes never seen. You turn the T.V. on and every other channel is, Life behind bars. It’s no wonder victims think no one cares, but there are people who care, and do need to hear what you have to say. People need to realize not every one in prison is innocent. For every prisoner there is a victim, and it’s time for victims to stand up and be heard. It is very important for victims to realize that people in prison are people too, and we do have to forgive in order for our hearts and soul to be free and begin to heal, but that doesn’t mean we have to be silent. It’s very important that people know both sides of the issues. The world is big enough for all our voices. I have received a lot of E-mails from victims, and the one thing we all have in common is the hope of healing.
Posted by Karen
Rihanna’s domestic violence news story
Domestic Violence is a important issue around the world and in the United States. Victims of domestic violence often do not speak up. Sometimes when they do they are blamed for causing problems in the relationship.
But in February everyone was talking about domestic violence after pictures of R&B star Rihanna’s bruised face surfaced on the internet. Rihanna had gotten the bruises from her boyfriend, the wildly popular R&B star – Chris Brown.
This high profile incident of relationship abuse was met with a lot of discussion. Shockingly hoards of teenage fans of Chris Brown pledged to support him. Many of these girls blamed Rihanna for Chris abusing her. (more…)
Posted by hcdmedia
Forgiveness
It is hard to imagine ever recovering from the trauma of having a loved one murdered. Some family members choose to heal their grief while calling for an end to capital punishment and retaliation.
Ryan Nixon lost his sister to a murder. Now he along with other family members of murder victims speak out against the death penalty. Ryan says:
My sister’s passing was tragic; it broke the hearts, and almost the bonds, of my family. I saw the hardest of men break down in tears. But, as there is always a silver lining to every cloud, instead of giving into the hatred in my heart, I opened it to allow forgiveness, love, and compassion to prevail.”
Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation is an organization of families of murder victims who are committed to reconciliation and ending capital punishment. To learn more visit the MVFR website.
Posted by hcdmedia
National Crime Victims Week
This is National Crime Victims Rights week – April 26- May 2, 2009 – a week dedicated to remembering deceaced victims of crime and fighting for the rights of crime victims.
An interesting conference to attend for advocates of victims’ rights is the National Victims Assistance Academy to be held August 2-7, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. This academy will comprise of education and skill-based classroom trainings for those who assist victims and survivors of crime. Apply to attend the conference and find out more about how to help crime victims by clicking here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Emergency Hotline
The National Organization for Victim Assistance has a 24 hour hotline.
For victim assistance call 1 800 TRY – NOVA.
Posted by hcdmedia