Social media is becoming more than just an outlet of selfies and snapping pictures of what you had for dinner; it’s becoming a place of social justice where people are beginning to speak out on more serious topics like domestic violence.
This week, a 19-year-old student named Mori Gabriella Montgomery shocked her friends and family after she took to her Twitter account to post gruesome photos of her injuries following an unfortunate domestic violence encounter with her boyfriend.
The flicks show the teenager wearing a neck brace, and her face was so swollen, bruised and scarred that it left her unrecognizable. She wrote on Twitter:
Pity is not what I ask from you. I am well aware that those pictures may look as if I want attention, but that is far from my goal here. I wanted everyone to see that because I want everyone to know that you don’t have to go through what I went through. You can leave any relationship before it gets this extreme or god-forbid worse.
She also described what happened in a caption under one of the photos:
This might be a little graphic but I just want to let everyone know that I am okay. I am a survivor of domestic violence with a boy I dated for 8 months. I really thought everything was fine but he constantly questioned me about cheating and flirting. Nonsense. I never looked at someone the way he looked at me. Thought I loved this boy. How can someone that ‘loves’ me do this to me? The scars on my chest are way worse and extend down to my right nipple, completely scarred. The skin on my shoulder has been completely skinned. And I have bruising on my rib cage, neck, and my muscles. I was kicked out of a moving vehicle, then beaten and dragged, as I blacked out and was left lying there in my own puddle of blood. Doctors said I could have died if not made it when I did. I am so blessed and beyond lucky to be alive and have so much support from friends, family, and strangers. As I try to recover I ask to please keep me in your prayers. I have to wear a neck brace for 3-4 weeks, an arm cast and I can barely walk for now. Thank you for all the love. I hope to be an inspiration to women and anyone involved in domestic violence.
OMG!
This week, she told The Daily Mail:
He was always jealous and extra aggressive. We were playing one day and he slapped me really hard. He apologized straight after, so I didn’t think anything of it, really, until this happened.[...]I was kicked out of a moving vehicle, then beaten and dragged, as I blacked out and was left lying there in my own puddle of blood. Doctors said I could have died.
While adding:
Domestic violence is such an overlooked crime. Nobody truly understands how often tragedies happen due to spouse mistreatment. I plan to put an end to the silence.Everyone’s shocked that I’m okay with talking about it, let alone to the world, but my way of coping is talking about it. I needed love and support, and that’s what I’ve got.
Unfortunately, throughout all of this, Mori has had to defend herself against people who have attacked her on Twitter, saying that she’s “milking” the situation for attention.
“Do you people not know the difference between ‘milking’ something and ‘raising awareness’ AWARENESS. Means to let everyone AWARE. Thank you. Don’t ever tell me I’m ‘milking’ this. This isn’t fun/joke or about popularity. I posted my story to MY followers, cant help who shares it. If you’re tired of hearing about me good luck trying to never see or hear my name again lol this is the beginning.. I’m not going anywhere.”
There are plenty of things on social media that are attention-seeking, but I think posting photos of a domestic violence incident is a very brave thing to do because most women are embarrassed when they end up in these situations and they normally don’t tell anyone. The best case scenario would be for another woman who may be suffering from abuse from her boyfriend, to see this, and realize that the relationship is just not worth it.
If Mori had gone back to the guy, he may have eventually killed her one day.
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