What happened next.
What do you when you see a couple having an argument in public?
You say nothing, you presume it’s a disagreement that will end with a laugh or a hug.
What do you do when the man turns to face the woman and grabs her by the shoulders?
You presume he’s reassuring her and that everything will be fine and they will walk off agreeing to disagree.
What do you do when his hands shake her hard, wrenches her arms towards his, pressing his face into hers?
You yell very loudly to take his hands off her. You make sure every single
person around you turns to see this man and what he is doing. You yell so loud that your children freeze and your teenager momentarily dies of embarrassment.
The man then shouts at me that this is his wife so that makes it alright.
I yell back that wives don’t come sale or return to be abused like that and I’m still calling the police.
The woman’s eyes are as wide as saucers by now and she waves an apology to me. The pair scarper into the market place and I’m left standing with Gruff asking me very gently to release the tight grip on his hand as he’d like to feel his fingers again.
I apologise for making my children jump but I couldn’t stand by and watch that.
I also apologise to the woman, I probably made things worse for you, I’m sorry but I couldn’t stand by and watch you be shaken like that.
Posted on August 30, 2017, in Uncategorized and tagged bullies, domestic violence, Doodlemum, Family, Sketchbook. Bookmark the permalink. 20 Comments.
Doodlemum 
I’m sorry you & the kids had to see that. I’d have done exactly the same thing in your situation.
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It was good to talk about it though. Abuse never starts big, it’s a drip drip effect. That woman was so apologetic, she was embarrassed for herself.
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So sorry, that’s awful …poor woman. I’m sure she must have appreciated you speaking up.
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I like to think I’d do the same. Here’s hoping she realised that behaviour like that is not acceptable and found the strength to stand up for herself
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I hope so too, she was in her fifties. It was sad to see.
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Bravo Lady! You have the proud nature of a Lioness! Bravo.
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You did the right thing. Sadly, not enough other people would do/have done the same. It is good that your children saw you taking a stand. That is a lesson that is better taught by example.
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I AM PROUD OF YOU!!! Not many would have the strength to stand up like that – way to go!
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You so did the right thing by standing up for that woman.
If she was in her fifties I really hope she can find the strength to stand up to this man’s bullying. No one should be treated like that and I applaud you.
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very brave of you to do that wish I would have the courage hope you made that man think and also made the woman realise he is not worth it and leave him well done you x
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Well done
I did this twice in a week last year, once standing up to drunken lads who were verbally abusing a woman using the toilet on the train, a bit like you did, the other calling the police when I saw two men dragging a woman along on the other side of the underpass – I couldn’t physically reach them, and probably I would have been pretty useless if I had. They vanished with her into the shopping precinct. I felt terrible I could not do more.
Seriously, well done, if that does not sound patronising. We have to stand up to violence and abuse, accepting there are limits to what we can do.
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It was brave of you to say something – most would do nothing. If he does that in public, what does he do in private 😱 Terrible and sad.
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You’re brave and caring. Thanks for sharing how one person can create ripples that have far reaching but not necessarily visible results. Women are strong too, and you proved that. Women helping women help the world.
You set a wonderful example.
Thank you.
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It’s a momentary thing. Depending on the level of violence, I might have reacted in one of several ways. I think under the circumstances above I would not have alerted them by shouting, but would have taken a couple of quick photographs, or a video, of the man shaking the woman, and quietly called the police anyway.
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You are so right! That does not make it allright if they are married even. You should never lay a hand on anyone, never ever!
I hope she is allright.. You did good!
X
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You did the right thing
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I would have done the same thing.
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Thank you for standing up for the woman. We need more people like you in this world.
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this would be vey sad to see. I hope she takes some kind of action for herself. i hope he didn’t do something worse later. Very sad.
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Thank you for your courage to stand up for that lady. And not just walk on by hoping or pretending that things are okay.
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