LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Violence disguised as love was the reality for a Las Vegas woman, and she shared her story with 8 News Now to show how she went from a victim to a survivor.
“The person that was supposed to love me the most was the person that was hurting me,” the woman stated. “It was like the honeymoon stages of any relationship. Super loving and clingy.”
Four months into her relationship, her boyfriend went from loving and clingy to angry and violent.
“The first time he put his hands on me I was pregnant so I wasn’t sure what I should do,” she said.
Like many others would do in her situation, she stayed, believing things would change. It went on for seven years, and one day, she landed in the hospital.
“He beat me so bad. I was in the ICU for 14 days. My lungs had collapsed, both my eyes were black, I had lesions head to toe from being whipped with a hair straighter cord,” she said.
It took almost losing her life to finally reach out for help.
That help came in the form of S.A.F.E. House, a shelter that provides housing, education, and legal for those experiencing domestic violence. They also have a discreet location in town only known to staff and the people they help.
“I just remembered they kept saying ‘hello, are you there?’ That made the biggest difference for me,” the woman said.
“It really is staggering sometimes how many calls we get each day from victims of domestic violence,” Beth Flory, executive director of S.A.F.E. house, said. “We are somber because there are so many people that didn’t make it.”
But this survivor did make it, and she tells anyone who may be going through the same thing to call the crisis helpline, take whatever opportunity they have by themselves, and think a few steps ahead.
For Nevada’s statistics on women’s safety, view the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada’s research article.
