Kristin Marthaler

During the time it takes you to read this article, a woman is being abused, every time you start to read a new paragraph.

October was National Domestic Abuse Awareness month.

Every day a woman somewhere has to deal with the effects of abuse.

“Sometimes the aftermath of the abuse is what is the hardest. That is when our clients need the most help, to get through the emotional times,” said Nikki Amundson, rural advocate for the Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter.

Abuse has been a topic that isn’t discussed in regular conversation between friends.

Joan Sudmann from the Haven House Family service Center in Wayne, Neb., uses the spider web as an example to explain to everyone the complications of abuse.

“If you see a fly entangled in a spider’s web, you don’t wonder, ‘why doesn’t it break free?’ The binding strands that trap the fly in the web are obvious. It is also evident that the fly could not have anticipated its fate when it entered the web unaware of the danger.”

Speaking up now will save you from a lot of problems later on.

There are places out there willing to help each and every person suffering from physical and verbal abuse.