To the editor:
In 1994 I was volunteering with Algoma Women’s Sexual Assault Services and saw first-hand the damage that is done by an abuser.
I am also a survivor of physical abuse. Workshops were done with the city police and OPP in Sault Ste Marie to educate officers.
I believe that once officers take workshops, like the ones in the Sault, they begin to understand what a female goes through when she has been assaulted, either in the home or on the street.
And yes, we do go back to the relationship a number of times before leaving for good; sometimes because we have no money and nowhere to go.
I spent many years living in fear that he would come back and get me as he said he would. Remember we are good people wanting this to stop.
I am now in my 10th year volunteering here in the hospital.
Working in pallative care, chemo and fracture clinics, listening to people telling me about abuse in their lives and no one came to help them.
So sad to still have these memories when they are at the end of life. Thanks for reading this – I am a survivor of abuse and have a great life now.
I’m safe, thanks.
Rita LaFord,
Oshawa
