Suicide Gallery : Sara and Travis. On violence against women;

I want to ask that someone who reads this will Re-Post this article to another site…
I watched a PBS special on women in prison and in half way houses and a couple of the women’s stories made me feel very depressed to hear about and be reminded just how dark some people’s stories can be. One woman , I think her name was Tamika or something like that ( I apologize to her for my terrible memory ) talked about how she remembered the first time her boyfriend slapped her… She looks down for a moment and then up and goes on to say that she thought it was just a isolated incident at first. But of course it was not. She described some other more violent beatings and gave the impression it just became an accepted thing in her daily life. It just rang hard in my mind with disgust as I imagined this guy hitting her. She seemed sweet and nice. She seemed wise. She seemed beyond tolerating such an undignified act – perhaps at that point she was. Again my bad memory prevents me from elaborating about why she was in prison and for how long. But I hope she has gotten out or will soon. I hope she is wise enough not to rekindle any kind of relationship with that man. I hope she finds a nice and decent man who will respect and appreciate her… Best wishes to you , where ever you are.
I hope she as well as any other woman who has experienced any kind of abuse in a romantic relationship and has come to the point where they will no longer accept such behaviour will maintain their resolve to live abuse free and wisdom in knowing that the person who is committing the abuse is highly unlikely to change. The best thing to do is sever any ties and hide from and avoid them as best as possible. Seek help from law enforcement or even a strong fearless person who is willing to use violence against violence – I’m not suggesting an extreme act that will result in death , but if you know a badmotherfucker who can fight and likes you enough to do so , let him kick their piece of shit ass , if a restraining order proves futile.
I personally know a few women who were abused physically. One female at the time was just a girl. I knew her through a couple of other people , one being my younger cousin. She was eighteen at this point when I was giving her a ride and she casually mentioned a recent time her boyfriend beat her. I expressed concern and she acted put off by my comment about her leaving him. She basically displayed a psychological disorder I would come to see as common and alarming – She accepted it as a normal and insignificant occurrence , even implying I was over reacting and being too sensitive. I sat disquieted in silence feeling frustrated knowing she was at this point beyond repining the perfidy. It would be a continuing cycle played out until the love affair exhausted its natural course. I read about it in the papers when the violence would escalate to felonious assault. Time again the punitive consequence for the male would be a few days in jail and then court ordered counseling. Now bear in mind the courts deemed me so violent I had to be permanently removed from society just because I possessed a gun during a robbery. But men like Allen Crawford burned , shot and stabbed his girlfriend and tied her and her sister up during a domestic dispute. This guy will be walking the streets in a could of years… Is this what society desires? In Lima Ohio I read about two cases in the same newspaper where two different men in two separate cases beat and killed their girlfriends – Each received less than fifteen years. So the politicians write the laws and this is how the prosecutors execute them. I saw a man on that PBS special talking about how he repeatedly beat his female companion and would just serve a few days in jail. It was sickening to me. I know I would never do anything like that but I have to sit in here for the rest of my life knowing men like him , who are ruthlessly violent and capable of terrible acts get very little time in jail. They just are not violent enough , their crimes bad enough , to warrant any significant incarceration time. Even when it escalates to murder , like in the cases in Lima , the law says it is not as violent or terrible as possessing a gun during a robbery.
I ask that any woman who is experiencing any kind of physical or emotional abuse that you will please consider the harmful effects not just on you but your children or other family members. You must know in the back of your mind it is not right and not something you should tolerate. If your fearful of reprisal seek the protection of someone or escape into an area you know is safe. I know it is a lot easier said than done but there are advocate groups and organizations that will assist you. It is just reprehensible imaging all the women and young girls out there that are suffering this indignity. I have written about the wide spread and far reaching consequences of the psychiatric disorder of pedophilia at the end of my book when I speak about my higher power( The book is done I just fucking need someone out there on the streets to upload it to Amazon . Jake! ) That and violence against women are two main problems within society that need immediate attention. I know that some obscure article written by an unknown inmate is not going to have any outwardly effect upon the world. It is an issue that Taylor Swift or Rihanna could get attention drawn to it, I believe they might have advocated for it in the past. It would take the magnitude of their social media presence to have any significant effect in the world. If they could encourage the mass to demand of politicians to include this type of violent offender to the list of those sitting in prison for long term sentences they might concede.

Travis Smith
DOC #529433