Victims trapped in domestic violence

E.V. victims trapped in domestic violence
Sonu Munshi, Tribune

October 8, 2009

The 27-year-old woman could have continued endlessly the constant war of words with her longtime boyfriend. But his physical punches, blows and beatings - especially in front of her three young sons - wore her down.

"We'd keep arguing," she said. "He thought I was talking to guys, looking at guys, but he was just jealous for no reason."

His insecurity led to nights when he'd punch her in the back of the head, even as she held her baby in her arms.

"Boom, boom, boom, he hit me, for wearing tight clothes," she remembers. She'd get kicked in her legs and on her sides "as hard as kicking a football for a field goal." Then, after months of abuse, one night she got choked so bad, she couldn't speak, felt the room spin around her and staggered about in a daze.

"My chest hurt, my sides hurt, my throat was out of control and I just told myself 'I cannot do it anymore,'" she said, choking up as she recalled her 8-year-old son's insistence on staying away from his dad.

That was the moment she decided she had to get out. She had nothing on her, not even her purse, but a kindly woman saw the mother and her children wandering by themselves and gave them shelter for the night. The next day, she called A New Leaf's Autumn House, a Mesa domestic violence shelter, which took her in a month ago.
read more herehttp://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/145575