Stories of Survivors

I Knew There Was Hope and Wanted to Tell Others

Betsy is a former member of the CMV’s Speaker’s Bureau. She tells her story in English to reach others and give them strength for the future. Betsy remembers her first night at the shelter. She lay in bed, tired, yet unable to fall asleep. She had trained herself to stay alert for her boyfriend’s entrance and the inevitable attacks that followed. The staff at the shelter told her, “you are safe here.” Betsy believed them and recalls how good that deep sleep felt.

Betsy’s injuries contradicted her denial that there was a problem at home. Her physician was concerned and gave her a card with a hotline number; eventually she called and moved with her children to the shelter. This turned out to be a journey she and her family would have to make twice.

Betsy’s children thrived in CMV’s Children’s Program. Betsy and her children received counseling and Betsy was thrilled to see her “children’s beautiful smiles and laughs again.” She received assistance in filing restraining orders against her abusive boyfriend, and when she was ready to leave the shelter, staff helped her find and move into a new apartment with her children. For the next two years, Betsy attended school and enjoyed her new life. But her batterer located her. It was only a matter of time before he broke into her bedroom and brutally stabbed her eighteen times. Betsy’s children, who were present during the attack, remembered the safety training lessons they learned at the shelter; one son called 911, and saved his mother’s life!

Once again, CMV provided a safe place where Betsy could recover. The staff attorneys helped put the batterer behind bars, and made sure that he would be deported upon his release from prison.

Betsy’s story is shocking, and each time she tells it, its power grows. When ABC TV’s 20/20, invited her to tell her story, she accepted, “for the kids.” Betsy stressed how important it is for battered women to know the extent to which domestic violence affects their children, noting that “even if the kids don’t get punched, they feel every punch.”

Betsy feels stronger every day and wants to reach out to other women. “When I survived, I knew there was hope and I wanted to tell others,” explains Betsy. “So many women out there are going through the same thing. Someone said to me, ‘there is help for you,’ and I believed her. I want to give that to other women.”