“Call it sexual slavery because that is what it is,” said U.S. Attorney for South Alabama Richard Moore. “Sexual slavery is one of the most frustrating crimes law enforcement goes after. We know it is happening in Mobile and Baldwin counties. We haven’t made a big arrest yet, but it is just a matter of time.”
These are Londoners with their own freakouts, including Brexit, a referendum that narrowly passed in June 2016 in favor of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. As the exit deadline on October 31 approaches with no plan, the sides, for and against, are split down the middle, but all say England is in crisis.
Being beat by a pipe or a stick, isolated from friends and family, thrown out of car or watching your children get a beating should never be normal. But abuse, anger, and reactions to them are learned from childhood and over 40 million adult Americans grew up living with domestic violence (Childhood Domestic Violence Association).
Down South. West Virginia is barely south of the Mason-Dixon line. The Greenbrier is closer to Lake Ontario than the Gulf of Mexico, but the mat and the sign were both right. The resort has been part of the biggest chapters of American history and is one of the most “Southern” places in the South.
Blue tarps still cover roofs around San Juan. There are downed billboards, mangled street signs and leaning power poles here and there, but it is possible to drive through Puerto Rico and see no damage. The scars are more internal than external and life is described as "before Maria" and "after Maria." Survivors tell of PTSD, anxiety, and an increase in domestic violence. Posters hang in bathrooms and churches with numbers victims can call for help.
These are the stories of survivors of domestic violence in Mobile and Baldwin counties. Each of these women could be dead today. Instead, they prove it is possible to escape an abusive relationship and rebuild self-esteem. They shared their secrets to show other victims that there is hope for a better life on the other side.
