By Michelle Kricheff | Development and Marketing Associate
Thank you so much for your generous support of loveisrespect, a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. You've already helped us answer 38,146 calls, chats and texts from young people around the country this year, and we are so grateful!
The National Domestic Violence Hotline recently achieved an important milestone. On May 8th, at 4:32 pm, we answered our five millionth contact—a person in Oakland, CA looking to help a loved one in an abusive relationship. This moment in our history is bittersweet. As we recognize how many people we have helped, we acknowledge that millions more are still in need. Reaching out is one of the bravest things anyone can do, and we will continue to keep our lines open for anyone ready to take that first courageous step. Through our loveisrespect platform, we also seek to prevent abusive relationships by educating and empowering young people to recognize the signs of abuse early, understand what healthy relationships look like, and know the respect they deserve.
Last month, a young woman named Janelle* chatted in to talk to a loveisrespect advocate about her situation. Janelle shared that she was experiencing severe physical abuse, including an incident where her partner had tied her up and raped her. When she tried to talk to her partner about how his behavior made her feel, he told her he would hurt her even more if she brought it up again. Feeling trapped, she had turned to substance abuse as a way to cope with the trauma.
Janelle told our advocate that she considers herself a feminist, and couldn’t believe she allowed someone to treat her this way. Our advocate explained how abusive partners take power and control away from the survivor, and reassured Janelle that the abuse was not her fault. Janelle felt it was unsafe for her to try to leave her relationship at this point, so our advocate helped identify some ways she could stay safer while staying, including a strong self-care plan and resources for drug abuse. At the end of the chat, Janelle said, “You seemed to ask me the right questions to get me feeling a little more alive. I really appreciate your compassion.”
Thank you for being here for young people like Janelle. Your support helps her and thousands more get the resources and support they so deserve—24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We are so glad to have you as our partner in changing lives across the country.
*Name changed to protect chatter privacy.
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