SOCIETY OR NOT..she chose to walk away.

Mitchelle is a strong woman, a single mother of one, a survivor. One of the few who was bold and courageous enough to get out of an abusive marriage. I am so impressed so here is my chat with her.

Phaozee: When was the first time you were hit by a man? Like physical abuse.

Mitch: Wow that was a long time ago back in school then, around 2001.

Phaozee: What was your relationship with him?

Mitch: He was my boyfriend. 

Phaozee: After that was there someone else who did that to you? If yes, what was your relationship to him?

Mitch: Oh yes, and that was my ex husband.

Phaozee: The first time you were hit, what was your immediate reaction?

Mitch: I was defensive but I couldn't do much cos I was pregnant.

Phaozee: Did you eventually confide in anyone? If yes, did you let your partner know you told someone? If yes did that help?

Mitch: Nope, I didn't confide in anyone. I thought I could avenge myself by doing something 'western' , you won't believe what I did ,let me tell u, after beating me, he left the house and took my phones away because he wanted to delete the numbers I got from his phone and he also didn't want to contact anyone, so in my angry state, I opened the wines in the house, brought out all his clothes and undies and soaked them in the wine as much as I could...lols cant believe I did that though...and that was where he got my sympathy, I started blaming myself for overreacting , I started giving excuse for him for the act every time it occurred.

Phaozee: Did he often apologise afters?

Mitch: Nope ,he never apologises.

Phaozee: What usually triggers this beatings or fights? Sight three instances.

Mitch: My experience is a strange one because trivial things triggers him for instance, we went out together, got drunk, got home and couldn't take the baby in beause my legs were shaky, didn't want the baby to fall, instead of him to just help take the baby in, he hit me so hard that my face was swollen, and started cursing me and left the baby and I in the living room. Another one , during a civil discussion , I gave an opinion and he just flared up and that was it...and the last one which ended the marriage , give me the money you owed my sis because she's travelling, infact the beating that morning, I didn't recover for months.

Phaozee: What ways have you tried in the past to prevent such from happening and how did you protect yourself? Run? Hide? Fight back? Or you just stand and face it?

Mitch: I stood back one day and brought out a knife that if he ever comes near I will stab him, he left the house that day, I once locked myself up in the room, but it got to a stage I just beg him for anything wrong or right just to prevent any noise or fight.

Phaozee: How did you perceive him overtime? Were you scared of him, did you see him as a bully? A coward , a controller? How? I mean at that time and not now that you know better.

Mitch: I see him as a coward  irresponsible man trying to force respect instead of earning it                .

Phaozee: Do you think a wife or woman beater can ever change?

Mitch: They can never change, I heard the lady whom he 'married' afterwards was also a victim but she's a rich girl and she got him arrested, I think that was d end of the relationship too.

Phaozee: What was your wake up call? What gave you the courage to ‘run’?

Mitch: My parents....my mom especially.

Phaozee: What are the signs you look out for in a man that are easy tell-tale that he is a likely woman abuser?

Mitch: Lot of things actually, education, exposure, temperament ,etc

Phaozee: How did all of this affect your person?

Mitch: I almost lost my feminine ego, because then I felt I'm not free to talk to a man anyhow, I thought low of myself because to make matters worse, I was a student, no money.

Phaozee: How did you recover and move on and see yourself as a better person? What ways did you device?

Mitch: I took solace in my future, so I invested my time into building myself and hence I regained my ego.
My advice: a woman shouldn't be too naive , no reason is enough to abuse a woman physically,  don't loose yourself ,the moment you start defending him and blaming yourself, you have lost it and above all, don’t seek for happiness in a man, take time to build yourself, make yourself the right woman every man prays for, wherever your heart goes, take your head along...

Villain to Hero

I met Tunde ‘by chance’ and he seemed like an interesting personality. Well, interesting that we chat but I knew nothing about him yet I had a feeling there was an interesting story around this man. I had randomly asked a group of friends, Tunde inclusive, what could push them to ever hit a woman. I did get various interesting responses except that Tunde added that he always hit all his previous partners until three years ago.

Wow! Yes that was my exact mental reaction. I had never, ever met a man who owned up to constantly hitting their partner.  After I recovered from my amazement I decided to have a chat with him. This is his story.

My name is Tunde.  Until three years ago, I always found a reason to hit my partner and I never really saw it as a big deal. The first time would be way back in 1996 or 1997. It started out as fun as I would always pick on my childhood crush ( a friend’s sister), watch her cry and I would apologise. That was very interesting for me.  She never had to do anything  to prompt this. It was fun at first till it became more like a habit. Did I know it was wrong? Yes I knew it was wrong at first but over time, having gone into more serious relationships, I had several reasons to justify my actions. Another reason that never made me feel bad about my actions was because I had always held the erroneous belief that I was above everyone, irrespective of the gender. Once, I nurtured the idea that I was the best thing my partners could find. One of such times,   I accidentally hit my mother on the shoulder while she tried to put a stop to one of those fights. She had come visiting and a fight ensued between my partner and i. it was very embarrassing when she called her elder brother who had always held me in high esteem to report the issue.

My wake up call came the day I hit the mother of my kids in the face and it was swollen for days. She did not bother visiting public places with the injury and I was very ashamed when friends would ask what happened and she would lie that she was hit in the face by the small mortar that dropped from the cabinet. This still hurts me.

We all have the volition to do wrong or right. I had to speak to myself first.  Since I made the decision to stop this barbaric act, I have used various methods to keep off it. Personally, I would warn her sternly on the likely outcome of any argument and sometimes try to walk away or out of the house.  If she tries to stop me, I usually come up with the comment that wealthy people do  not act the way we do. Thankfully, she finds that amusing each time regardless of the extent of anger dwelling in her. I am proud to say that I am no longer the villain. I stopped hitting my partner over three years ago and I am positive it will NEVER happen again.