Politician’s History of Being Physically Abused Surfaced during Campaign
In a related post for today’s entry on politicians and mental illness, Kathleen Troia “KT” McFarland’s past history of being physically abused as a child surfaced during her campaign.
The media got a hold of letters that McFarland wrote in 1992 to her parents at the advice of a counselor. This caused McFarland to disclose her history with physical abuse. McFarland’s father was allegedly the abuser.
NavyCompass.com Talks About Domestic Violence
Recently I highlighted the prevalence of domestic violence in military families, and how often victims fear seeking help. NavyCompass.com is a website for members affiliated with the navy, and has published an article urging victims of domestic violence to seek help.
In “Victims of Domestic Violence Shouldn’t Fear Seeking Help“, JO2 Adrian Melendez stated that the naval support is there with victims of domestic violence, and that the biggest challenges in putting a stop to violence is the fear of victims in seeking help. By the time a case is reported, the abuse has been going on for a long time and the situation may have become worse and dangerous.
Other factors that hinder report is fear that reporting an incident will disqualify the spouse from receiving naval support. This is essentially fear stemming from potential financial devastation. The navy describes ways to prevent this from happening so that the victims will come forward to report abuse.
Remember, domestic violence can happen to both men and women.