The Cops Called It A Lovers' Quarrel. She Took Polaroids And Proved Them Wrong.

[eridani]

http://www.upworthy.com/the-cops-called-it-a-lovers-quarrel-she-took-polaroids-and-proved-them-wrong?c=upw1

I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been part of a social movement that has been working on ending violence against women and children, and for all those years I've had an absolutely passionate and sometimes not popular belief that this violence is not inevitable, that it is learned, and if it's learned, it can be unlearned, and it can be prevented. Why do I believe this? Because it's true. It is absolutely true.

Between 1993 and 2010, domestic violence among adult women in the United States has gone down by 64%, and that is great news. Sixty-four percent. Now, how did we get there? Our eyes were wide open 30 years ago. Women were beaten, they were stalked, they were raped, and no one talked about it. There was no justice, and as an activist, that was not good enough.

And so, step one on this journey is that we organized, and we created this extraordinary underground network of amazing women who opened shelters, and if they didn't open a shelter they opened their home, so that women and children could be safe. And you know what else did? We had bake sales. we had car washers, and we did everything we could do to fundraise, and then at one point we said, "You know, it's time that we went to the federal government and asked them to pay for these extraordinary services that are saving people's lives, right?"

[ismnotwasm]

1. Awesome

Some of it is reminiscent of what republicans say to this day

But I heard about a congressman who had a very, very different point of view. Do you know what he called this important piece of legislation? He called it the "take the fun out of marriage act." The take the fun out of marriage act. Ladies and gentlemen, that was in 1984 in the United States and I wish I had Twitter. Ten years later, after lots of hard work we finally passed the Violence Against Women Act, which is a life changing act that has saved so many lives.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-cops-called-it-a-lovers-quarrel-she-took-polaroids-and-proved-them-wrong?c=upw1

Nice!

[Victor_c3]

2. Wow! I had no idea there was any noticeable reduction - let alone 64% - in that time period

I think a lot of it has to do with building a culture around shaming the abusers.

[GeoWilliam750]

3. 36% still to go

One is too many.