How To Escape From Domestic Violence

Safe Escape: Survivors and Experts Offer Advice for Fleeing Domestic Violence
In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, BeSmartBeWell.com shares the hopeful story of one woman who successfully escaped domestic abuse.




CHICAGO, October 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Each year, more than 4 million women and one in 10 men are harmed by their partners, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Tragically, the most dangerous time for victims of domestic violence is when they try to leave.

In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, BeSmartBeWell.com, in collaboration with the National Domestic Violence Hotline, shares the story of Bessie, a domestic violence survivor, and provides practical tips and resources to help people break free from abusive relationships.



Barriers to escape
For years, Bessie hid the bruises. She lied to her friends and family, wore long sleeves and used make-up to cover the latest scars. She wanted to escape from her abusive husband, but feared what he would do if she tried to flee. Then, with the help of friends and a domestic violence support group, she made a plan for her escape.

A common misconception about victims of abuse, according to the experts featured on BeSmartBeWell.com, is that they stay because they love the abuser and don’t want to leave. In reality, most don’t leave because they are unable to do so. Some are financially dependent upon their abusers–cut off from jobs, resources and even credit cards–and worry about how they will support themselves and their children. Some have been isolated from their family and friends and lack an adequate support system. Others are threatened with violence if they attempt to leave.

“There are a lot of structural barriers that make leaving and staying away from an abusive relationship really difficult,” says the CDC’s Phyllis Holditch Niolon in a video interview on the site.

Where can I learn more?
At BeSmartBeWell.com/Domestic-Violence, police officers, physicians, domestic violence experts and survivors like Bessie provide practical tips and information to help people safely escape abusive relationships.

Visitors can also register for the monthly Spotlight Newsletter and News Alerts for in-depth articles and breaking news on domestic violence and other important health topics. Visit BeSmartBeWell.com for information about more women’s health topics—including pregnancy risks, mental health, STDs and caregiving.

About Be Smart. Be Well.
BeSmartBeWell.com is sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Divisions of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.


Media Contact:
Ross Blackstone
Media and Public Relations Manager
Health Care Service Corporation
972.766.1735
Ross_Blackstone@hcsc.net

ALL OTHER INQUIRIES:
editor@besmartbewell.com 312.653.BSBW (2729)


Top Headlines of the Day

Occupy Wall Street

Halloween 2011

Deloitte Survey: Inadequate Internal Awareness Toward Mobile Security

Teen Drivers 50 Percent More Likely to Crash in First Month of Unsupervised Driving Than After First Year Behind the Wheel

87 Percent of U.S. Consumers Expect to Spend Same or Less in 2011 Holiday Shopping Season Due to Economy

Microsoft Officially Welcomes Skype

America's Sport -- A Majority of Americans Watch NFL Football

Consumers Fear Phone Hackers Will Crack Mobile Wallets

Tweet

Angelina Jolie's writes and directs first film

Famous American actress Angelina Jolie's thrilling new film In the Land of Blood and Honey, which she admits has changed her view on acting is her baptism of fire as a director and screenwriter.

She said her beau Brad Pitt thought she was going to have nightmares on location. But “I had such a good experience he thinks I'm going to be impatient with directors, which I already am. I get impatient with people working on a film that have their head in their hands like it's the most complicated thing in the world."
I had the flu," Jolie says. "I had to be quarantined from the children for two days. I was in the attic of a house in France. I was isolated, pacing. I don't watch TV and I wasn't reading anything. So I started writing. I went from the beginning to the end. I didn't know any other way."

Angelina Jolie having her baptême du feu directing In the Land of Blood and Honey.

"I've never felt more exposed. My whole career, I've hidden behind other people's words," said Angelina and also dismissed the pregnancy and secret wedding rumours.
"I'm not pregnant. I'm not adopting at the moment. And no secret wedding," she said boldly.

Jolie is twice married and divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton before settling down with Brad Pitt with whom she has three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, and three biological children, Shiloh, Knox and and Vivienne.

In the Land of Blood and Honey is a thrilling love story during the traumatic Bosnian Civil War in the early 1990s and produced in both in English and the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian language known as BCS. The film is expected to be released on December 23, 2011.

You will read the complete exclusive interview in the October issue of Vanity Fair.





~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima


Tweet

Popping the Question: Spousal Speed Bumps

August 13, 2011




New Yorkers give Sherri some insight on those tough marriage moments!


Marriage is a Monopoly of one man keeping a woman all to himself selfishly after playing Totopoly for many years.

~ Orikinla Osinachi


Tweet

The Muslim Woman Who Saw Jesus!

The Muslim Woman Who Saw Jesus!

Millions of people are still perishing in ignorance of the Truth of Jesus Christ, because of their unbelief and being misled by false doctrine and false religion. That is why I have to remind them of the awesome testimony of Gulshan Esther, a Muslim girl, imprisoned by her religion and severe disability, but was healed and set free by Jesus Christ HIMSELF!



You should also read the book of her unforgettable testimony The Torn Veil: The Best-Selling Story of Gulshan Esther



A true story of freedom and miraculous healing as a Muslim girl finds faith in Christ

When Gulshan Esther, a devout Muslim girl, was six months old, typhoid left her a cripple. Her loving father took her from Pakistan to England to find a cure, but the only hope the British specialist could offer was prayer. Gulshan and her father made pilgrimage to Mecca and begged Allah for healing, but it was not until her father’s untimely death that Gulshan began to receive an answer. In her grief she wanted to die, but as she called out to God, for the first time in her life she sensed she was being heard. She heard a low, gentle voice say, "I won’t let you die. I will keep you aliveÖI am Jesus, son of Mary."

As Gulshan began reading the Quran, her interest in Jesus grew, until one amazing night he appeared to her in her bedroom in a blaze of light. He restored her crippled arm and leg and taught her The Lord’s Prayer. He told her to go to his people—now her people—and tell them what he had done. Since that time, and to this day, she has been a joyous, obedient disciple of Christ. The Torn Veil is an amazing story of faith and determination.

This moving autobiography was first published in 1984 and has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.

Click on the Amazon image of the book cover below to order for this book of the extraordinary testimony of this Muslim woman who saw Jesus our Lord!