This summer at Hot Mommas Project, we began a new feature called “Question of the Week” where we pose a question on Facebook and award a free premium course in our upcoming leadership academy to the best, most liked or most discussed answer.
This past week, domestic violence was a hot topic online, in response to recent news headlines. As a result, women from all over the world have been sharing their stories about why they left and why they stayed, on Twitter and elsewhere. Notably, some of the dynamics of this conversation changed when we got behind closed doors.
Personally, I’ve been shocked not that they differed, but how. Issues came up in the areas of:
- education about domestic violence
- how younger women in my life were reacting to the story
- my own personal comfort level about discussing my story online
- how sometimes I felt more responsible for mentoring other women who asked for my advice than I did about self-care
- whether victims of domestic violence are seen as victims of a mental health issue or somehow complicit in the abuse they suffer
- the support and/or reaction of the “cool daddies” in my life. (I stole that term from our Chief Hot Momma, Kathy).
So this week, we’re curious about how this affected your household. Please share your thoughts about the #whyIleft and #whyIstayed conversations, and what happened when you took the discussion offline.
Of course the same prize is available as always but of course we’re going to stay focused on the larger issue. So please feel welcome to reply here if that’s more comfortable for you.