5 hours on Sunday

In the last few days of domestic violence awareness month, Womansplace set up a table at Wal-Mart to let people know of their services. One of their volunteers couldn't make it, so they asked me to table 11-4 this past Sunday, and I said yes. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'd never done anything like this. We had a small pamphlet listing some of the legal services Womansplace provides, but of course there are many other things we do, which we would tell anyone who was interested. 11-2 there was another volunteer with me, but for the last 2 hours I was there alone.

It was really an amazing experience. Several women stopped by who had been victims of domestic violence but were now free, they thanked us for getting the word out about domestic violence and the help that was available. A few of them shared their stories. One woman came by and showed me her PFA (Protection From Abuse) document, which she was about to serve to her husband that afternoon - but she needed a police escort to do it because she was afaid to go home. Another woman stopped by to pick up a brochure for a friend who needed a shelter; another man needed help for his sister. Many people said their neighbor or friend was in abusive relationship. Some blamed the women for not leaving. Towards the end, a woman stopped by smiling, and told me that she had been one of the driving forces in the formation of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women with NOW right after she left her abusive marriage in the '70s.

A few men passed by with their wives and jokingly said "what about violence against men? this one over here (pointing to his wive) is really a menace!" haha. i know they were trying to be funny, but I don't know how appropriate that kind of humor is. 95% of victims of domestic violence are women. Besides, one man stopped and seriously asked for help - his wife was actually violent and he didn't know what to do - he was afraid to defend himself lest he be considered an abuser, but he was afraid she'd really hurt him. He took our pamphlet and went to sit down with his friends - not before he grabbed a Wal-Mart flyer and put our pamphlet inside it though.

I'm really glad I volunteered yesterday.