'Their lives matter': Advocate answers 3 questions about abuse in domestic relationships
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- "Chaotic." That's the word Houston Police Department Det. Sgt. Nathan Waldie used while discussing the current state of domestic violence in Houston.
"These people, they're in what's supposed to be loving, caring relationships," Waldie explained. "All of a sudden, they're not."
One person who knows that traumatic experience firsthand is Jamie Wright.
Wright is a domestic abuse survivor, who is now a speaker and advocate.
ABC13 asked her three questions related to abuse in domestic relationships:
Question 1: What would you say to someone in an abusive relationship?
Wright: I would tell my future-self that I'm worth living a life with love that doesn't equal physical, emotional, or financial abuse.
Question 2: What would you tell an abuser?
Wright: I would pose the question 'Why do you have a need for power and control? Why are you hurting the person you say you love? Is it you're hurting, therefore you hurt as a result of being hurt?' I would also share with them that their lives matter, and they also deserve to live a life that's free of abuse."
Question 3: What's one thing that could be done to make a difference as it relates to domestic violence?
Wright: Shifting our mindset to lean into (the idea) that domestic violence is not a family thing, it's not a hush-hush thing, it's not a Black thing or white thing, or a rich thing or poor thing. It's a community thing. Until the community as a whole addresses the issue will it ever be eradicated.
ABC13 also spoke with Barbie Brashear, who is the executive director of the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and she added some additional insight on what could make a difference in decreasing cases of domestic violence.
"What we have to get really good at as a community is investing in prevention," Brashear said. "That goes way upstream into working with kids about what a healthy relationship is, but also addressing adults and human beings and how they interact in personal relationships."
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