This is one of those subjects that until the last twenty years was practically taboo and no one would talk about it. In 1984 NBC aired The Burning Bed starring the late Farrah Fawcett as a movie of the week feature. The response to this movie based on the non-fiction book by Faith McNulty was phenomenal. Abused women came out of the closet literally and womens shelters and abuse hotlines opened up around the country.
The Burning Bed tells a universal story of abuse against women. It is the story of Michigan housewife Francine Hughes who set fire to the bed her long-time abusive husband was sleeping in, killing him and burning down the house. She later claimed that the man had been beating her for years.
We all know someone in our lives who lives in quiet shame as the victim of domestic abuse against women and this is unacceptable. In our modern, enlightened world there should not exist any situations where women live in fear of their lives everyday because of a battering, abusive boyfriend or husband. Yet each year more and more cases of abuse against women are reported around the country.
Why is this abominable practice so commonplace and why do women not come out and accuse their abusive partners? This is a question that psychologists have been wrestling with for years. Many experts say that it is the fault of the woman for not coming forward. Many say that they choose this lifestyle and part of it stems from a delusion in their own heads about their sense of self-worth and lack of self-esteem. They feel that they somehow deserve this treatment and they delude themselves into thinking that they can somehow change their abusive partner if they try long enough.
The main problem is that by the time the woman decides she can take no more, it could be too late. Take the notorious case of O.J. Simpson. He eventually killed his wife Nicole (yes, he was acquitted but no one buys that) and waiter Ron Goldman in a fit or jealousy. No one believed that this celebrity could do such a thing and he eventually was set free. In those days the mindset of the general public was to believe in a persons appearance or public persona and ignore any indiscretions they have in real life, even if those indiscretions were potentially dangerous to that persons wife or partner.
This horrific murder could have been prevented if Nicole had come forward earlier. In fact, she had called 911 after several incidents involving an enraged O.J. but the Police always took the side of the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star, even posing for photos with him. Now the police do not take chances and always arrest the man when responding to domestic violence calls. Sometimes they will arrest both the man and the woman if they cant decide at the scene who is committing the crime. This can be incredibly costly for the man and the woman and is just another way that women get dumped on by the justice system.
There is help available for abused women. Call your local Abuse Hotline for one on one help and the location of your nearest Battered Womens Shelter. Dont wait, get help today before it is too late.
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