Ravens release Ray Rice

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

As much as her statement pissed me off (and trust me, it did) I have to keep reminding myself that that type of statement she released is typical of a battered woman. Until she fully removes herself from that situation (if she ever does) she won't see herself as a victim instead of a target.

And to all the people (not here in particular but other places I've seen) saying "oh we don't know what really happened" and "wah, they deserve their privacy", f that. Ray Rice let everyone into their private life the minute he knocked his wife out in a public area.

Sadly battered woman syndrome is usually an extension of childhood abuse. It can take the form of being abused personally or seeing parents physically fight. I had heard about it growing up, but it really hit home during college where I was unfortunate enough to see how situations like this unfold.

In short one woman I knew who came from a stable loving home (I had actually met her family and visited her home on multiple occasions), not only walked out on her abuser without hesitation, but vigilantly pursued criminal charges. On the other hand there were two other women I knew who based on what I could gather had pretty rough childhoods. To put it into perspective one got legally emancipated at 16 years old, because as she put it, going to boot camp was club med compared to staying at home.

Long story short one stayed with and defended an abusive a-hole BF (literally used a slightly altered version of the 'fell down the stairs' explanation when asked why she had a black eye). The other jumped from one abusive guy to the next. In fact one time she cheated on an abusive guy who then apparently got into a fight with the other abusive guy she had slept with (shocker I know).

The worst part is these incidents are almost never isolated. Rather they bleed into multiple generations, until somehow, someway, a person strong enough comes along and breaks the cycle. It's a nice story when it happens but the buildup is to painful to watch.