Domestic abuse happens more often than one might think.
The Texas Department of Public Safety found, one in three Texans will experience domestic abuse throughout their lifetime. It exists and Stephanie Legree Roberts, a Central Texas woman, says she has proof of that.
“The real tragedy was the fact that she was this vibrant amazing woman, and all of that was lost while she was still living...she had the opportunity to do all these amazing things, but didn’t do it, because someone else, was controlling... her narrative," Stephanie shared.
Stephanie's mom, the late Viola Butler, was abused by her father.
“We were trapped in this weird bubble that he controlled," she said.
On average, close to 20 people are abused by an intimate partner every 20 minutes here in the United States, and in most cases, data shows the victim is a woman.
“The time that she grew up in, the way she was raised, the things that were going on in that world in general… I think that as caretakers, women want to care for everyone else, but themselves," Stephanie said.
Things for women are not so different today Stephanie expressed, and regardless of the love, she shared, that “abuse is a crime, you have to trust when someone tells you that you deserve better, that you have life and love and potential.”
More frequently now than ever before, domestic violence awareness movements are being formed across the nation to help stop the cycle; the latest being the "One Thing Movement."
It's a pledge to do one thing to end domestic violence and here in Central Texas organizations are taking part.
Texas A & M University-Central Texas did a tie-dye event on Wednesday to raise awareness around abuse.
