By Kelly Hawkins One in four women and one in seven men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which is staggering. Domestic violence often is stigmatized and misunderstood, resulting in fear of coming forward for those affected and in […]
In 1997, I met a handsome and charming guy while we were stationed at Osan Air Base, South Korea. In August 1998, we were married, and the military relocated us to Virginia. We began what I’d hoped would be a happy life. We rented a townhouse, met friends and settled into being a married couple. […]
By Tammy Smith For those of us in south Mississippi, fall isn’t as much a sudden nip in the air as a state of mind. On the Coast, we may not see as many seasonal changes as other places, but we still can create that fall feeling we all look forward to. It’s easy to […]
By Kay Daneault Victims of domestic abuse, as well as perpetrators, can be any gender or age. They also can come from any demographic, social status or level of education. The relationships of intimate abuse can be complicated by feelings of love and affection for the other person. Typically, the perpetrator exhibits a level of […]
With increasing life expectancy, senior adults are a growing segment of our population, and they are living active, independent lives that are longer than in previous generations. Dating, marriage and intimate relationships in later life are now commonplace, yet we often fail to consider or recognize the signs of dating or domestic abuse among our […]
Mark walked into my life when I was a naïve, sheltered 20-year-old. He was exciting. He was daring. And he introduced me to unchartered waters. Abusive people can always identify the vulnerabilities in others that allow them to move in and take control. Mark found my feelings of missing something from life and a need […]
By Sarah Jones When I started as a victim advocate with the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, it never occurred to me that my advocacy would extend to working with abusers. What I quickly came to realize was that promoting victim safety and moving toward our ultimate goals of reducing and eventually ending future violence […]
Red flags. So many red flags. I saw them but chose to ignore them. He studied me like a book and learned my likes, dislikes and traumas. He then used that information to create the person I believed was my soulmate. He was “saving me” from an already bad place and blinding me with his […]
My name is Sharita Cook, and I am the mother of seven beautiful children, which includes five sons and two daughters. I am the eldest daughter of Larry and Janis Burks. My parents were hard workers. There were five of us altogether, two brothers and two sisters. My mother was a chef, and also a […]
By Dr. Olivia Hightower We are making advancements every year in breast cancer treatment. Patients are being cured at a higher rate, and even those whose cancer is detected at later stages are living longer, as chemotherapy options are improving. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, excluding skin cancers. About one […]
