RADV Article: If You Could Rebuild Yourself
What if your life wasn’t over? What if the abuse wasn’t the final chapter? What if, instead of asking, “Why did this happen to me?” you asked yourself a different question: “If I were to rebuild myself after my abuse… what would I look like?” Would you be stronger? Would you finally set healthy boundaries […]
Survival Is Not the End of Your Story
There are days when survival is enough. Not every day is about healing.Not every day is about smiling.Not every day is about moving mountains. Sometimes success is simply making it to tomorrow. Survivors know what that feels like. They know what it is to stay awake all night wondering what will happen when the door […]
Before There Was RADV
Chapter 4: Nothing Left The surgeries were over. My leg had been saved. My jaw had been broken and reset. The doctors had done everything they could to put my body back together. But they couldn’t put my life back together. I spent months in that hospital recovering. I couldn’t talk because of my jaw, […]
Awareness Is More Than Seeing
Domestic violence isn’t hidden because there are no signs. It’s hidden because too many people choose not to see them. For many people, domestic violence is uncomfortable. It’s easier to believe it happens somewhere else, to someone else. It’s easier to tell ourselves, “It’s none of my business,” or, “I’m sure everything is fine.” But […]
RADV Presents: The Ripple Effect
Changing Tomorrow by Investing in Today Series #7: Be the Safe Place Every child needs a safe place. Not just a safe house. A safe person. Someone they know they can run to when life becomes confusing. Someone who listens before they judge. Someone who comforts before they criticize. Someone who reminds them that making […]
How Do You Wear Your Wings?
Some people wear their wings like a badge of pride. Others wear them quietly, never realizing the lives they touch. The truth is, we all leave something behind. Every conversation, every act of kindness, every moment of patience, every time we choose compassion over anger—it becomes part of the legacy we carry. Those are the […]
Give Yourself Permission
There comes a moment in every survivor’s journey when you realize something important. No one is coming to give you permission. Not your abuser.Not the people who didn’t believe you.Not the family members who told you to “just move on.”Not the court system.Not society. If you wait for someone else to tell you it’s okay […]
RADV Article: When Strong Is Your Only Option
There are people who admire strength. Then there are survivors who never asked for it. No child dreams of growing up stronger because they had to endure abuse. No spouse hopes to become stronger because they were betrayed, manipulated, or hurt by someone they loved. No survivor wakes up one morning and decides they want […]
RADV Article: The Heart a Survivor Carries
There is something remarkable about the heart of a survivor. It has been broken, disappointed, manipulated, and wounded in ways that many people will never fully understand. It has learned what fear feels like. It has carried the weight of silence, self-doubt, and loneliness. Yet somehow… it keeps beating with hope. That is the kind […]
RADV Article: Laws Need to Change to Protect Survivors
By Dave Beatty, Founder of Riders Against Domestic Violence (RADV) Every time another survivor tells me, “There was nothing anyone could do,” I ask myself the same question: Why? Domestic violence is one of the few crimes where people are often expected to gather overwhelming evidence before they are believed. Survivors are told to document […]