Nicole Brown, Forever Gone but Never Forgotten: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
The domestic violence hotline is toll free and available 24 hours a day. To read more about how to get help for domestic violence go HERE.
Domestic Violence is Common
Domestic violence happens in every culture, every religion and in every level of society. A relationship that starts in love too often ends in violence. Once someone hits you, that relationship needs to end. Love cannot exist in the midst of violence. Reach out to others for help and advice if you are being abused.
I had domestic violence in my family. Many people do. I have childhood memories of an elder relative arriving at our house covered in bruises. She was beaten more than once over the years. And that, long after she is gone, still brings me immense pain.
My Mom also fled her home late one night due to an incident where a certain male punched a hole in a bookcase she was next to. I was in bed asleep when I heard someone ringing my doorbell and pounding on the door. I was astonished to open the door to see my mother.
She took a long, late night drive (and she normally didn't drive due to health reasons) to get away from a situation that seemed dangerous to her. I still have a picture of that bookcase with the hole punched in it. Let's just say it is my least favorite "family heirloom."
Domestic violence is horrible. I cannot imagine what sparks it. Why does someone think they have the right to hit someone or to use punching an object as a way to frighten them?
Nicole Brown: Abused and Murdered
For much of America, if not the world, one of the most horrific cases of domestic violence ever in the news was that of Nicole Brown, once married to football player OJ Simpson. Didn't we all hope that that would bring attention to the problem of domestic violence and that it would decrease? Alas, that was not to be. We are still seeing horrible examples of relationships gone bad in the news.
And I still wonder how the legal system could not have figured out the identity of and prosecuted the murderer of Nicole Brown Simpson. How is it that no one was put in jail over that crime that left two innocent people dead?
And now Mark Fuhrman, one of the detectives who investigated the crime scene, is in the news again, claiming that there was a bloody fingerprint on the gate that was never
investigated by the police. Justice was never achieved for Nicole Brown. Was OJ her killer? People have very strong opinions on that topic.
Nicole Brown had pictures of her battered face in a safety deposit box. She had called the police on numerous occasions over domestic violence. And she did leave her marriage. However that didn't save her from murder.
And there was much evidence at the crime scene and on the property of OJ Simpson. The bloody glove is now infamous and it held DNA from OJ Simpson and the murder victims, and other items include a pair of size 12 Bruno Magli shoes like OJ wore and a sock containing blood, notes NFL Fanhouse. Also, detectives who arrived at OJ's home after the murder found blood on the driver side door of his Bronco, notes People. There was also a trail of drips of blood leading from the vehicle to the main entrance of OJ's home.
Was her killing linked to prior domestic violence or was it random? I think this murder was probably not a random crime and that the legal system seriously failed Nicole Brown. DNA evidence is pretty solid, and yet somehow this case fell apart.
Nicole Brown Foundation: Domestic Violence Information
The family of Nicole Brown has started a foundation to honor her memory and to educate the world about the dangers of domestic violence. To learn more go HERE.
For a list of domestic violence resources by state go HERE.
For a timeline of events on the evening that Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were killed go HERE.
Sources:
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/10/01/oj-simpson-trial-at-15-legacy-of-bad-dna-beard-strokes-bruno/
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20104089,00.html
Published by Julia Bodeeb
Winner, Pulitzer Center Global Issues contest (Washington, DC), semi-finalist: The Nation's poetry contest. Published in newspapers, magazines and many online websites. Sold jokes to a major comic. Over a... View profile
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15 Comments
Post a Commentthis is great information
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and throughout the month domestic violence advocates and the media's attention will be focused on bringing more awareness to and promoting the eradication of men’s violence against women. However, not all intimate partner violence (IPV) fits into this neat little package.
IPV against men has always been a hot button issue. The mere mention of male victims in a gathering of traditional domestic violence advocates creates great controversy. While domestic violence advocates may know men are victims they insist that their victims service agencies (over 2,000 of
them in the US) should focus exclusively on ending violence against women by men because women are the most injured and prevalent victims. As a result, serious outreach and services for the male victims of IPV
are sorely lacking.
Studies indicate that men are victims of assault by their partners in 25% of the reported cases in the U.S. each year. The disparity between the needs of t
Luckily I've never really known about domestic violence is our family. As I've said before I can't understand it, though social issues such as poverty obviously put relationships under tremendous stress. RIP Nicole.
My grandfather was physically abusive to my grandmother. My aunt told me that, finally, their now-grown children got together and warned him he had better stop beating up on my grandmother or they would have him arrested. It worked. He stopped after that. My grandmother was avenged in the end. My grandfather died of cancer when he was only in his 60's, and she lived to be 93.
Great read!
Such an important reminder, thanks Julia, a great article!!!!
Seems like yesterday we watched OJ and the trial for the murder of Nicole. What a sad domestic violence end to her beautiful life, cheers
great report
Great reporting
I am sorry this is in your history too. Thanks for bringing out a necessary article. Stats say 1:3 women worldwide will be a victim of abuse. I don't believe that. So far, I've never met but a handful of people who haven't been victimized. It's far from being that 2:3 that the stats indicate.