By Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor
She has seen me though so much: painful crushes, eighth-grade algebra, senior-year study hall and countless band rehearsals.
She is the kind of woman who writes a daily “to do” list, and writes “conquer the world” at the top each day. She is the kind of friend who leans in close, listens without judgment and offers advice far wiser than she should. She is the kind of person everyone loves – for the laugh that makes her face turn red and her eyes water and the serenity she always displays.
When we scattered to our respective colleges across the country from one another, I knew she would have astonishing things to tell me as she went out and conquered the world – just as she always planned.
And I was astonished when she told me this month she had been a victim of domestic violence.
After breaking up with her boyfriend of almost three years, she was forced to change her cell number to stop repeated phone calls. Eventually, the two had to meet so she could return some of his things. She wisely took a friend with her but agreed to talk with him alone.
Once alone, he pinned her down, demanded to see her cell phone and eventually aimed a punch at her face – which made contact with her skull and not her nose. She screamed for her roommate, which only spurred her boyfriend to run to the kitchen to grab a knife and threaten her. Eventually, she was able to get the police on the phone when he ran out the front door, only to have him return, push the knife on his own throat and threaten to hurt himself while she watched. To lure him to put down the knife, she told him things would be OK and she needed him; he dropped the knife and left the room again.
Finally armed with his knife, she barricaded herself in a room, made sure the police were on their way and waited. The police arrived and took him into custody, but not before he managed to break down the door, forcing her to run. With the help of six people, he was tied to a gurney and taken away.
He went to jail with charges of aggravated kidnapping and a $250,000 bond; he was released Thursday on bail.
As for my friend, she’s back to her original plan: conquer the world.
Fifteen pounds lighter thanks to the rigorous kickboxing classes which she enrolled in, this amazing woman has moved on to tell her story, joining women across the nation who have something to say about domestic violence.
With the arrival of the Vagina Monologues, a play garnering attention for women’s rights issues, in town this weekend, now is the perfect time for the women on campus to recognize how real this issue is and learn how to
protect themselves.
One thing I’ve learned through my friend’s experience: Ladies, domestic violence doesn’t only happen to the stereotypical submissive woman. You can be strong or shy, motivated or timid- either way, you have to be prepared.
The Noah Project serves victims of domestic violence in West Texas, and volunteers can vouch for the fact that this is a very real problem.
In the 2006-07 fiscal year, the organization sheltered 447 victims, answered 1,724 hotline calls and aimed to increase awareness by educating about 4,500 people, according to the Web site.
At the national level, three women are killed each day by their husbands or boyfriends, and in a single year, about 1.5 million women will be raped and/or physically assaulted by “an intimate partner” every year, according to the Noah Project Web site.
I know my friend will get back up and “conquer the world,” telling her story and hopefully combating domestic violence as she goes. I hope she inspires us all to do the same.
