Stand Up!!!

I was going through my reader tonight trying to catch up with all the blogs that I follow. I came across one that I have to share....for more reasons than one. 

Jessica over at Confessions of a Bookaholic is doing a post each day this week that I think is absolutely amazing.

There are many books out there today that discuss domestic violence.  Many of them are for adults but lately more and more are being aimed at YA.  Why??? Well, for that you would have to ask the authors and the publishing companies.  But I for one, am so thankful that these books are coming out.

Domestic violence doesn't discriminate with age, race, gender, religion, social or economic status.  It hits across the board.  According to Domestic Violence Resource Center, 1 in 4 women have experienced domestic violence; 3 out of 4 people know someone who has been a victim; and 3 women and 1 man are murdered EVERY DAY as a result.   Teens, this does not exclude you.  The site also says that 1 in 5 high school girls have been a victim.

As if those statistics weren't scary enough National Coalition Against Domestic Violence offers some more.  Females between the age of 20-24 are at the greatest risk for non-fatal domestic violence and women are most often a victim of someone they know.

Domestic violence just isn't physical. It also includes intimidation, coercion, isolation, blaming the victim, economical and emotional.

On Jessica's blog this week she will be talking with Deb Caletti, author of Stay, Jennifer Brown, author of Bitter End, and Mandy Hubbard, co-author of But I Love Him.  The authors will talking about their books and there is also a give away.  Don't just go for the give away though...these authors are doing a great job. 

Now a little story for you: 

There was a girl who had been dating this guy.  Things had been going well for about 8 months, then he became controlling, jealous and abusive.  She decided that she didn't want to be in the relationship any longer and told him that she was ending it.  For about a month, he kept calling her, telling her how sorry he was, how much he loved and missed her, and how badly he wanted to work things out.  She went to work one day and he called her at work asking if he could take her to lunch.  She thought that he really did want to talk about their relationship and was going to give him the chance to talk. They rode out of town so that they wouldn't have any interruptions.  She never returned to work that day.  Later that night, her friends and family found her body where she and her ex-boyfriend met for lunch.  He left a note next to her body saying "if I can't have you, no one will."  He took her from her mother, sisters, brothers, friends and her two young teenage children.  Her body had been beaten and hung.  This girl had been my best friend for almost 30 years, never got to see her children graduate high school and will never know her grandchildren. 

If you know of anyone who is going through abuse of any kind, or if you are yourself, there are resources to help.  Please get help! Everyone deserves to live a life without fear.

A VERY special thanks to Jessica for bringing this to the blogging world!!