If you have read any of my previous articles like this.

Or perhaps this.

Then you know I advocate for domestic violence victims, and for animal rights. I do this not only because our own dog was abused, and then euthanized by our abuser, but because right now I am only aware of Michigan having this law.

Why isn’t this domestic violence law concerning animals in every single state? Why hasn’t Senators Cornyn or Cruz not implemented this here in Texas yet? What are they waiting for? If this had been in place, then our abuser would be in prison and we would have never had to deal with his continued abuse. Emotional or mental abuse is domestic violence, and should never be considered anything differently.

Imagine you have a dog, cat, or even bird, and your abuser used it to control the situation. This is obviously animal abuse, but it’s also called coercive control which is also domestic abuse, and something abusers will often do to victims. This also gives them the power that they want. It can be about money or telling you that you can’t do this or that. Nobody, I don’t care who they are should ever be trying to control you.

If state representatives don’t understand they can certainly learn about domestic violence on any of the major websites like this one.

Or they can learn about it here.

Because domestic abuse happens “nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.”

Ten million. Think about this. This was written a while ago, and while statistics change this number more than likely has gone beyond ten million, especially since the pandemic happened. The pandemic and victims being in lockdown put domestic violence on the rise.

“This American Journal of Emergency Medicine said that domestic violence cases increased by 25 to 33 percent globally. The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice shows an increase in the U.S. by a little over 8 percent, following the imposition of lockdown orders during 2020.”

In most abusive situations things escalate, and because abusers are so unpredictable anything can happen. I recently read about this.

The journalist who wrote about this responded to my daughter after she explained what had happened to me. Many victims go undiagnosed as she said, and this should not be happening either. I continue to get dizzy, my eyes won’t focus, and I know it’s because of what happened to me. If you are physically abused it’s much like what happens to sports players when they get head injuries. Our brain is a complex thing, but it’s also delicate, and if we are injured, you cannot just pop a pill for this. Traumatic Brain Injury – TBI must be taken very seriously.

It’s interesting to most victims of abuse that our government will acknowledge things like this, but our own representatives still refuse to make better domestic violence laws.

“A victim of DV or IPV may sustain a TBI without their knowledge, especially if there are no signs of obvious signs of trauma or other TBI-related symptoms. Many individuals may receive no medical care or intervention, thus dramatically increasing the likelihood of recurrent TBI(s), which may result in more severe neurological damage. Common causes of closed head injuries among DV or IPV victims:

Objects striking the head or neck
Pushed against a wall or other surface
Pushed down a flight of stairs
Violent physical shaking or strangulation
An individual that has sustained a TBI may not recognize they are experiencing issues related to a TBI because many of the associated symptoms are common in everyday life.”

TBI is nothing to take lightly, but due to domestic violence, far too many victims of financial abuse far too many victims cannot afford to see a neurologist let alone a general physician. If you read the above quote concerning TBI these things apply to what happened to me. This is yet another thing our Senators do not want to address, because while they say the government insurance program is affordable it’s not. This is definitely not something that will work for someone who cannot make a particular dollar amount for the year. Domestic violence victims struggle because of financial abuse, and far too often they are left homeless, without medical insurance, and without the proper medical attention. The great need for addressing better domestic violence laws is an obvious one. I don’t understand with all of these statistics how our government officials still refuse to address this.

In regards to the above article on Michigan, pets and domestic abuse is a long overdue law, not only in the State of Texas, but in every single state in the United States of America. This law should be worldwide, and I hope that other countries like the United Kingdom, for example, are working on this, or have something much better, because ten years is not long enough for an abuser who is capable of inflicting this kind of pain on the individuals. My own child has been advocating for this in Texas, because it is obviously personal to her. Think about if it was your child or someone you knew. Children witness the abuse and do not forget it. This also causes injury to their brain. People develop Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, CPTSD, or PTSD because of this.

This is not something that is reserved only for military people.

Like I often say in my articles contact Senators Cornyn and Cruz, please contact your Senators and share this article. If you are in another country, do the same. Victims of abuse deserve to be protected by the law. We should not have to continue to beg our representatives to actually represent us. I believe that they sometimes forget who they actually represent.

Here’s their link for contacting them, so this is easier for you to pass along to whoever you possibly can.

Maybe you could even contact the Senators in Michigan, and ask them to personally contact our Senators in Texas, so we can get this same domestic violence law enacted. Even better call them, and specifically tell them that you need them to advocate for you, and give them the Texas Senators’ information. That’s if they don’t already have it, or even suggest they walk down the hallway to their offices and talk to them in person.

In the State of Texas we can surely enact this law. Truthfully, fifteen years would be better than ten, and include compensation, because victims of abuse all too often end up struggling. This is not only because of their abuser, but because of the failure of the Court, because let’s face it, this is the truth when they say:

“Family courts ill-equipped to handle abuse tactics post-separation.”

This is not news to anyone who has ever had to deal with Family Court. Not only victims of abuse, but prominent agencies have been asking for Family Court reform for years. They want the Courts investigated for corruption. While our Senators continue to wait to act, there has been an increase in domestic violence deaths. This particular article is talking about Colorado, but you can search this up and article after article will appear. There are even Twitter accounts that keep track of domestic violence deaths.

What I don’t see is information on domestic violence-related deaths in Texas. I wonder why that is, don’t you? I found this.

This is not only about the homicides, because this can also cause people to feel hopeless. They are trapped, and they are not getting the support that they need. I am not just talking about the lack of help from our United States representatives.

Does even the Center for Disease Control talks about this? They understand the seriousness of abuse, so when will our representatives do the same?

Also, there has been an increase in homelessness due to domestic abuse. The National Network to End Domestic Violence talks about homelessness here. They have a lot of important information on their website.

If you read my last article then you know what is happening concerning children.

Yet there’s this.

You can see the states listed here. I find it very difficult to believe that this was talked about in Texas in the month of November. Did you hear about this on the news? Did you read about other than this particular article? Did you see anything posted on our Governor’s website talking about Family Court Awareness Month? I know that I didn’t. Who are these nineteen representatives? Personally, I would like to talk to them. I would also like to know what they are doing to encourage the other state representatives to join them, but most importantly when are they actually going to enact laws that actually help domestic violence victims?

If you look here.

This was tweeted about in 2021, and you will see something from Governor Abbott. Yet again, as 2022 rolled around, did you hear him or anyone else, the media, television stations, or even the other Texas cities listed here talking about Family Court Awareness Month? I would also like to ask why in the month of October Domestic Violence Awareness Month was barely talked about in Texas. It should not take a specific month to talk about these things. We need to keep talking about this until we start to see the changes that are required to help all victims of abuse. It is up to our representatives to do the same.

I know that sometimes this kind of information can be overwhelming for people who do not fully understand all that domestic violence victims endure. It is important to give you as much information about this subject matter so that you can help too. Knowledge is power, and there is strength in numbers. Considering everything that I have said, it continues to baffle a lot of people as to why it’s so difficult for Congress to enact better laws that are specifically geared toward victims of abuse. If you saw another person abusing another person, what would you do? Would you cross the street and ignore this? I certainly hope not. If we see something, we must say something. We must do all that we can to help.

I have said before that the Violence Against Women Act is unfortunately not good enough.

Victims of any kind of abuse, be it physical, sexual, mental, verbal, coercive control, financial, all types of abuse need a lot more help. Perhaps your Senators can answer why they still do not understand this, because if other states like Michigan can enact their law, then certainly Texas can, as can Ohio, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, and the rest of the states in America. Who are your Senators? Research this and get their email addresses, get their phone numbers too. If you are a representative, and you’re reading this, what specifically do you not understand? How many more deaths are you waiting for before making significant changes to the laws? Even if you are not a victim of abuse yourself, please stand up for those who are, because they definitely need your help and they need it right now.

Lilli is a Mom, Photographer, and an Advocate for victims of domestic violence, and animal rights.