Real-Life Communication
You look at your desk. It is overflowing with reports and statistics
concerning family violence -- incidents of physical assault, elder abuse and
spousal abuse. You are overwhelmed with how much violence there is -- and
the horrible way it destroys its victims' lives.
Looking down at the
pad of paper before you, you read what you've written. Nope, it just doesn't
get across the urgency. You rip off the sheet of paper, crumple it and throw
it towards the wastebasket in the corner of the room. It bounces off the rim
and lands next to several other crunched notepaper balls lying on the carpet.
"One
more try, just one more try...and if I don't get it then I'll head home,"
you mutter to yourself as you pick up your pen. You look out the window at
the darkening sky and think about what you want to say.
"OK, now this
is one of the most important parts, it has to impact the reader -- really
get them in the gut," you tell yourself. You've written the rest of the fund-raising
brochure but have left the introduction to the last.
It needs to catch
the interest of the reader, drawing them into the problem of family violence,
showing them that every part of society hurts with this ill. You want to paint
a picture with words.
You check your facts again:
Spousal
Assault
- It's underreported, like other forms of family violence
- Two women each week are murdered by their husbands and at least one million
women are physically or psychologically abused by husbands or partners
- Experts estimate the average abused wife is beaten by her husband 35 times
before going to the police
- It's widespread in all levels of society -- all economic levels, religious
groups and cultures
Child Abuse
- Ninety percent of runaways each year are running from family violence
- Forty-four percent of assault victims are male
- Almost half the time the abuser is a family member; strangers commit only
eight percent of abuses
Elder Abuse
- They're often victimized in their own homes by family members or caregivers
- An estimated 98,000 elderly people are abused in one way or another
Persons With Disabilities Abuse
* All facts from Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation Against
Family Violence
Other people have said that family violence
is a national health emergency and the most pervasive social ill in our society.
You
feel the pressure mount. Knowing that if you don't communicate well, people
won't give to your cause, you place the point of your pen on the paper and
start to write.