Domestic abuse victims suffer silently, alone

"Too often, victims of domestic violence are shamed into silence. Before her death, I doubt if friends of 21-year-old Jwonda Thurston, a pregnant Chicago woman who police say was killed by her boyfriend last March, knew she was a domestic violence victim.

When it comes to prominent people, domestic violence is often construed as a "big misunderstanding," as was the case when Joseph Terry, a producer for the Oprah Winfrey show, was arrested in July for allegedly "grabbing" his ex-wife's arm and "pulling her hair."

As columnist Sandra Kobrin noted recently, the public is more outraged by Michael Vick's alleged mistreatment of dogs than we are when professional athletes abuse their spouses and girlfriends.

I also doubt that the relationship between Christopher and Kimberly Vaughn was as loving as has been portrayed. Vaughn is about to go on trial for allegedly murdering his wife and three young children in the family's SUV last summer.

More often than not, domestic violence victims suffer alone.

That's why Andrea Brown's story, which originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on Aug. 19, is important. She fought back. In breaking the silence, she has shown other victims how to fight back, too.

Brown is the Metra engineer who was allegedly stalked and terrorized by her ex-husband for more than a year." |Read more|