Actor Mel Gibson is in the national spotlight stemming from a domestic violence investigation involving his ex-girlfriend Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva. However, domestic violence is not just an alarming problem among the rich and famous, survivors and church leaders say.
Organizers of the 2010 Women’s Conference attempted to expose the horrors of domestic violence among the not so famous. The conference, sponsored by Greater Grace Tabernacle of Deliverance Church was titled, “Battered, Bruised and Broken; Yet, Here I Stand.” It was held at New Dimensions Ministry, located at 110 Alta Woods Blvd., July 17.
New Dimensions is Greater Grace Tabernacle of Deliverance’s mother church.
Greater Grace Tabernacle pastor, founder and conference coordinator Betty McGowan-Robinson said domestic violence gets more national attention when it involves people like Gibson and his girlfriend. “That’s because they are celebrities,” she said. “We need people in the media to help us expose it locally as well as nationally. We have stories of victims that Oprah Winfrey needs to know about.”
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that “one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. Domestic violence is one of the most chronically underreported crimes. Approximately one-quarter of all physical assaults, one-fifth of all rapes, and one-half of all stalkings perpetuated against females by intimate partners are reported to the police.” Victims and others speaking at the conference urged that reporting and exposing domestic violence is extremely important.
Speakers and presenters included Dr. Isaiah Madison, an elder at New Dimensions and a Jackson State University professor; Erica Elizabeth Dennis-Bryant, a motivational speaker; Gracie D. Watson, a student; and Belinda Johnson, Ph.D., pastor of Blair Street A.M.E. Zion Church, Jackson.
Watson, a Lexington, Miss. native, shared: “I was stabbed 36 times by my husband, puncturing my lungs. He poured gasoline on me and struck a match to set me on fire, but it went out. He tried again, and that match went out. People were standing around looking, but weren’t doing anything to help me. And the third time he tried, a man stepped up, pulled a gun on him and told him to leave me alone.”
Watson said the man must have truly been an angel of God. “I never saw him anymore after that until the day my husband pleaded guilty at the trial. I had been asking people who the man was. No one knew. I even asked the newspapers to help me find him.”
She expressed that she is so thankful to God for saving her life and allowing her to meet the man He used to save her.
Watson’s husband received the maximum sentence of 20 years for aggravated assault in 2007. She said she was surprised that Mississippi did not have an attempted murder charge; only murder and aggravated assault.
Local domestic violence legal expert Attorney Brandi Brown said Mississippi does not even recognize the Battered Women Syndrome as a line of defense for women who finally find the nerves to defend themselves by fighting back. “Most states have it,” Brown said. Referencing Watson’s situation where onlookers did not assist her, Brown said one would be surprised at the number of women who are attacked openly by a spouse or significant other where no one tries to help them. “It’s amazing how no one wants to get involved unless it’s their relative or loved one,” she said.
Brown believes that there are a limited number of lawyers in the area who practice domestic violence law. “Of course, the State Attorney General’s office has a Domestic Violence Division, and there is The Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project,” she added.
Bryant said she is on a mission to raise awareness and help stop the violence. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., but now residing in Jackson, she survived incest, abuse, incarceration and addiction. She battled her addiction for 30 years, but is now clean, sober and able to help others free themselves from harm. She shares the Word of God and her life story each Wednesday at Noon at Lizzie’s House, a local shelter for at risk women and children.
Johnson, whose presentation was titled, “Let The Healing Begin,” said she suffered abuse from her mother, because she was considered the black sheep of the family. Growing up, she was constantly reminded by her sisters that she did not look like them.
“My mother would beat me until I would bleed. She literally hated me. I was in a bad situation. I never heard anybody say, ‘I love you’ to me,” she said about her abuse.
The ministerial leader, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Arkansas, told the predominately female audience that, “the healing does not begin until you forgive” the abusive violator. “My mom is deceased. During her illness, I took care of her. I did everything I could for her, because I don’t ever want to be accused of not forgiving.”
The Cleveland, Miss. native stressed that deliverance is in forgiveness.
Historically, child abuse and neglect are centuries old problems.
As early as 1884, Great Britain founded the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in an effort to protect children from cruel treatment. A form of domestic violence and abuse, it was once called the “battered child syndrome.”
Titled, “I’m Sorry,” Madison’s presentation was geared toward men knowing their position in life without feeling they have to mentally or physically oppress women. He also encouraged the audience to keep up the good work of helping others through their painful and emotional ordeals.
“The purpose of our conference is to provide victims of domestic violence and abuse with help, hope, healing and restoration,” said McGowan-Robinson, who is also a case manager for Lizzie’s House.
Lizzie’s House provides at-risk women and children in crisis with shelter, and equips them with the necessary skills to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, hopelessness and dependency, to become productive citizens. McGown-Robinson said she is “determined to help women begin again, after their dreams have been shattered.”
For more information about Lizzie’s House, call Pastor Betty McGowan-Robinson at (601) 506-4149. For more information about domestic violence or to get help, please call the National Domestic Violence hotline at: 1-800-799-7233; The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673; The National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline at 1-866-331-9474.
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