By: Delilah Alvarado
Photo from Time Magazine
Often, there is a woman with an abuse story. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 91 percent of victims of rape and sexual assault are female. Overcoming a violent situation can be difficult. However, there are resources available and many women to help that have been in similar situations. And many women come out of these situations changing the world and the people around them. Here’s three women you might not know about that have overcome violence and made a difference.
Tracey Thurman lived in Torrington, Connecticut, who fell in love with a man named Charles “Buck” Thurman working in a motel at age 17. They were married two years and had a child when Charles started to become abusive. She filed a restraining order but then he attacked her on June 10th, 1983. Charles stabbed her 13 times in broad daylight at her friend’s house while there was an officer out front. He stomped on Tracey’s neck, breaking it, and then grabbed her son. Charles tried to attack her a third time after an ambulance finally arrived, forcing police to wrestle him away. She spent months in the hospital half paralyzed, and away from her son. Tracey sued the state of Connecticut for failing to react properly to her calls. The Torrington police were judged negligent and Thurman won a settlement of $2.3 million in federal court and her case led to the Thurman Law requiring police to respond to domestic violence like any other crime.
Charlize Theron lived in South Africa when her drunk father threatened her mother with a gun at age 15. Her mother grabbed the gun and shot back and it was ruled as self-defense. Theron avoided speaking of the incident and started taking therapy in her late twenties with her mother as her support system. She went on to become an actress and an activist for South African youth creating the Africa Outreach Project in 2007 to help keep youth safe from HIV/AIDS. In 2008 she was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. She went on to record a public service announcement as part of the Stop Rape Now program for the United Nations. Theron continues to march at rallies for women’s rights. She is also a part of PETA.
Tarana Burke lived in the Bronx, New York in a working-class, lower-income home. She was raped at six years old and molested for years by a neighbor and raped again as a teenager. Her mother was her support system and motivated her to become involved in the community. After graduating at Auburn University, Burke created Just Be Inc. to help young women of color in Alabama. After hearing a girl’s story of sexual abuse named Heaven, Burke could think of one response which was “me too.” In 2006, the MeToo movement was created, but gained social media attention in 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted about sexual assaults from Harvey Weinstein. Burke didn’t gain credit for the term until Milano tweeted that she coined the term. Burke was named one of Time Magazine’s person of the year among other women. She is now a senior director for a nonprofit in Brooklyn called Girls for Gender Equality.
KUROS is an Austin company that promotes self-defense against violence. For more information visit https://kuros.com.
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