This Woman Recorded Her Own Murder and It Shatters This Myth About Domestic Violence
By:
A chilling audio recording made by a Pennsylvania woman as she was being shot to death by her boyfriend is highlighting an all too common danger faced by women who attempt to leave abusive relationships.
According to a press release provided by Chester County prosecutors, Keith Smith can allegedly be heard firing a shotgun blast at Wesley Webb, a mother of three, and then exclaiming "Fuck you! How's that? That's where we just went."
Chester County District Attorney's Office
Webb's recording highlights why so many domestic violence victims stay in abusive relationships.
Prosecutors said that Webb and Smith had gotten into an argument in the living room, and she decided to leave with two of their children. Webb's phone recorded from the time of the shooting all the way up to the arrival of the police. According to prosecutors, Smith can also be heard on the recording saying, “You want to record it now, bitch?
Flickr/Jacqui Brown - flic.kr
Women are statistically more likely to be killed when they try to leave their partner.
Women are 70 times more likely to be killed in the two weeks after leaving a partner than at any other time, according to the Domestic Violence Intervention Program.
Chester County District Attorney's Office
Women in violent relationships often try to leave 6 to 8 times before the final time, and each time the violence can escalate, according to Building Futures with Women and Children. About 85 percent of domestic violence victims are women, according to an analysis by the Huffington Post.
Domestic violence victims face a stigma for staying in abusive relationships. There is a common myth that women in abusive relationships are unintelligent, crazy, or that they would just leave if the relationships were really so bad. The Georgia Coalition for Domestic Violence answers that myth on it's website:
"Many survivors do not exhibit behaviors that, to those of us outside the intimate relationship, may seem unusual or even bizarre. It is important to remember that, as an outsider to the abusive relationship, we are not living with the daily threat and fear of abuse or death." —Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
For the past two years, domestic abuse survivors have used the hashtag #WhyIStayed to talk about the difficulty of leaving an abusive relationship.
After security footage of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancé in an elevator went public, many people questioned why she still wanted to marry him. Writer Beverly Golden started the hashtag #WhyIStayed to stand up to the victim-shaming of domestic abuse survivors.
