Gender Violence

Many of my friends have been victims of abuse. It also runs in my family on my father's side. Domestic violence is a horrible trend to have and fighting back to stop it is even harder. I watched my parents fight all the time and was even put in the middle at times. There were times when I tried to break up my father beating my brothers. When I was young I only remember by father doing the hitting but as I got older my mother started to hit. I am not sure if this is due to my mother dealing with it for years or if she had always done it and I did not remember. All I am trying to say is that it is not something easy to walk away from when it is the ones you love whom are hurting you. Its the little things that can trigger attacks too. When I was 10 years old I dropped a gallon of milk that my mother had just bought, thats all it took. She beat me and the next morning I could not move my neck. I had also seen my mother grab my grandmother and scream at her. It's hard to grow up with but what hurts the most is that I see it in my brothers when they drink. They both can get very mean, and it reminds me of what we went through. Since my parents divorce my mom is a lot better and I don't see my father which is probably the best thing for me. Domestic violence in my opinion is learned and it is hard to break but luckily I have had some really good role models in my life and I hope that my brothers also will use the tools they have not to carry on the violence when they have a family.