Empowerment of Abuse Victims

I am not a parent. I am much, much to young and immature/irresponsible to be trusted to raise kids. I know this. You know this. It's a given - 22y/o guys really shouldn't be dads. They don't have what it takes...yet.

I have the foundation. I take personal responsibility and I have common sense. I have some "book smarts" to go with my "street smarts." I grew up in a single family home, ran with gangs as a teen, and I grew out of it. I'm a pre-law student with my own house, car and job. I grew up.

As I did, I learned that there are most certainly people out there who prey on the innocent and will do anything to fulfill their self-serving little world views. These are the wife beaters, the rapists, the pedophiles of the world. Garbage, in other words. Maybe its something in their brains, something innate, but more likely they make conscious decisions to do wrong or conform to some warped logic.

Whatever the motivation, I have seen it first hand. I have beaten the shit out of a guy who beat up one of my girl friends. She went back to him a week later, called me at 3am crying with him screaming in the background. That time, he got a gun pulled on him. We had a little understanding that night, the three of us, and it hasn't happened again. He understood that his kind was unwelcome in my world, not able to contact members of my "tribe" (thnx to Bill Whittle). She began to understand why she was drawn to that kind of unhealthy relationship. Today, she's happily engaged to a guy I actually like and she's better off.

I'm not trying to take credit for the great life she has now. I only peddled a little influence, is all. The will to change has to be there, in the partner being abused, for things to change. You can lead a horse to water and all that shit, right? The idea is to get behind the victim - or in front of them, as the case may warrant - and give them that push in the right direction. You need to empower them.

What can a battered woman do to feel empowered? She can sign up for some kind of hand-to-hand class. She can buy a gun. Better yet, she can get a CCW and carry a gun. Failing that, she can take out TRO's and get a mace permit, buy a stun gun or taser - something. Something needs to be done to balance the equation more in her favor.

The answer is not to sit idly by. If you are the parent, friend, sibling or otherwise know a "victim," you should get involved. If you're the kind of person I am, you jump in and get involved.

Some people don't.

Read this article from yesterdays UT. This shows just how depraved some people can be, and how sitting on the sidelines can exacerbate the situation. I don't want to pick on the victim or their family - they did try to get her help - but sometimes you have to take that extra step.

The night before Sinkule was killed, her mother had a feeling her daughter had run out of time.

"I kissed her on the cheek and told her, 'Goodbye, Nicole. The next time I see you will be in heaven,' " Claudia Sinkule said.

If you ever have that feeling, a premonition or gut-check, whatever you want to call it, don't let that person go. Move them into a spare room for a few days. Lend them that extra shotgun in back closet and show them how to use it.

I feel like a hypocrite writing this. It seems contrary to my other convictions. I am opposed to the Nanny-state mentality that I see everyday in the news and the People's Republic I live in. As a libertarian-minded person, I almost want to make myself stay out of other peoples private affairs and take a step back. But my gut won't let me do that.

When a person reaches out for help, whether through a phone call, a knowing glance or a TRO that gets ignored, I feel like stepping up to the plate and swinging for the fences. I'd urge you to take that extra step to, but I know most of my readers already will.