Simplicity is Beauty | Perfectly Imperfect

I came from a broken family...my parents separated when I was only 4 yrs. old. My mom had a new relationship the following year and they lived together after that. All was well at first then things started to change. One night the guy got drunk and he wanted to go out. My mom didn't let him because he was so drunk to go out and it was also so late. I woke up in the middle of the night because of the noise in the room. My mom was holding his arm trying to stop him from going out then he pushed her on the wall. That was the first incident I remember, I was only 5. We moved to the guy's parent's house the next year then we all saw his big horns from that day on. Whenever he's drunk, he would become a completely different person. He would beat my mother up, physically and mentally, and we can't do anything about it. We were kids, we were afraid, he was a big guy, and all we could do was hide whenever we see him drinking or pretend that we don't hear anything. Sometimes we get into the middle of the fight, try to stop him from beating my mom, but we just get verbally abused too, and all we can do was cry. Life was really hell...and from a young age, I know this has got to stop. When I became a teenager that was the time I started to fight back. I remember when I was 14, he was drunk again and they (he and my mom) were arguing in the room, we were sleeping and he was so loud (he was always loud), shouting here and there, that I got so pissed (woke up in the middle of the night again) that I intruded in their discussion and talked back to him. He was so mad that he grabbed my hair until I was out of bed then we fought. I was so mad too, I didn't care if he was bigger, all I knew was I should fight back! My mom was trying to stop him to the point that she hit him with an umbrella (the umbrella broke!). The next day, when he already had some sleep, not drunk anymore, he told my mom that he didn't liked how I glared at him the night before...that was the start of the "beating mom mellow down". I was the only one (there were 5 kids - 3 his and 2 mom's: me and my sister) who had the guts to fight back. He and my mom were together for more than 18 years before they separated. My mom learned to fight back too. They still fight until I was in college, but whenever he lays a hand on her, I was there to stop him. He backs away and stops hurting my mom when he sees me. He knew...because of these eyes...

Some story huh...a short version when our lives were in hell. According to statistics, 6 out of 10 women in my country alone are battered wives. 6 out of 10 families are at risk of becoming victims of family violence. Over a million women and children all over the world are victims of domestic violence. Despite the landmark passage of Republic Act (RA) No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act) in 2004 which criminalizes violence against women and their children, the latter remains a pressing concern in my country comprising of 76.2% of all reported cases.

Blog Catalog - Blogging for Hope
Amnesty USA - Violence Against Women
UNICEF Joint Press Release - Some of the biggest victims of domestic violence are the smallest
UNICEF Search Results on Domestic Violence