To the editor: My group and I had been heartbroken to be taught of the loss of life of Hayden Panettiere, who handed away on Sunday at simply 36 years previous (“Hayden Panettiere, star of ‘Heroes,’ ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36 in South Carolina,” Aug. 16). As a gaggle that walks alongside survivors of home violence each day, we felt her loss not as strangers studying a headline, however as individuals who deeply understood a part of what she carried.
Panettiere spoke with exceptional candor, together with in her lately revealed e-book “This Is Me,” about surviving an abusive relationship, describing the concern, the isolation and the disgrace that so many survivors know intimately — together with the concern of calling for assist as a result of “then the general public would know.”
Each time a public determine says “this occurred to me too,” it chips away on the silence and stigma that preserve survivors from reaching out. It’s typically not the abuse itself that isolates somebody the longest — it’s the perception that nobody will perceive, or that talking up will value them all the things. Panettiere’s willingness to talk gave permission to others to search out their very own phrases.
To anybody studying this who sees themselves in Panettiere’s story: You aren’t alone and assist exists. Survivor Justice Heart gives free authorized illustration to survivors in L.A. County. The Nationwide Home Violence Hotline additionally affords free, confidential assist 24/7.
Panettiere’s energy is inspiring. We’ll preserve doing this work in her reminiscence and in reminiscence of everybody whose story doesn’t make headlines.
Carmen McDonald, Los Angeles
This author is govt director of Survivor Justice Heart, a authorized advocacy group for abuse survivors.
