Ocala, FL-It took a couple of years before Susan Still felt emotionally strong enough to speak to audiences about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her former husband. Today, she travels throughout the United States, telling other women there is hope. Still will be the guest speaker on Saturday during Marion County’s second annual Walk of Hope, sponsored by the Family Violence Prevention Workgroup of the Marion County Children’s Alliance. Still will give the welcome address at 8 a.m. at the Ocala Police Department prior to a 3.2-mile walk to the College of Central Florida. She plans to participate in the walk and will give a video presentation in the fine arts auditorium. “I’m happy to come and share and give hope anywhere that I can,” Still said in a phone interview. “I’m hoping that even if there’s one person out there in a situation, they’ll know there is help out there for them, places they can go where they can be safe. I want to tell them, ‘You can get out. You can be OK. You can heal and your children can heal, and you can have a good life.’” Still has told her story in TV interviews with Diane Sawyer and Oprah Winfrey. During her marriage, Still endured 24 years of emotional, mental and physical abuse, which escalated in the last couple of years. At one point, her husband forced their 13-year-old son to video-tape him beating her. He was convicted on several assault counts and was sentenced to 36 years in prison. Still said she remained in the relationship too long. “Hindsight is 20/20,” she said. “At the time you’re in it, you don’t understand it. They come to us as Prince Charming. They don’t come and beat us. Slowly and methodically the control creeps in and you don’t even realize what’s happening to you. People who are not in it ask, ‘Why doesn’t she just leave?’ A lot of people don’t understand that when we do leave, that is the most dangerous time.” Still was invited to speak at the event because of a recommendation by Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair, who heard her presentation at a law-enforcement function. For Blair, domestic violence is more than a job-related concern. It also struck him on a personal level. “My sister was murdered by her husband and then he committed suicide, so I know the impact of domestic violence and how it affects the family,” he said. This (event) is to bring awareness to women that it’s so important that you report it, so that you can get the help you need. There are people here that care about you.” Monica Bryant, MCCA family violence prevention coordinator, said last year’s Walk of Hope went better than was expected. Nearly 500 people participated. “It was a wonderful sight seeing hundreds of people walking over that State Road 200 bridge,” she said. “It was not just women, but some of their husbands, and sons, little kids in strollers and people walking their dogs.” Nearly 3,000 domestic violence cases are reported every year in Marion County, Bryant said. The sad thing is, it’s difficult to get people involved in preventive programs, she added. “There is that stigma to it. Most women are embarrassed that this has happened to them,” Bryant said. “We just want to get the word out to young women, especially, that they don’t have to stay in these unhealthy relationships. There are resources out there.” Please click on the link for the full article - J ocala/article/20130831/ARTICLES/130839915/1402/NEWS?Title=Events-point-to-hope-for-domestic-violence-victims
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 14:03:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015