Society's Dirty Little Secret

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Society’s Dirty Little Secret: Domestic Violence “I got flowers today!” “It wasn’t my birthday or any other special day.” “We had our first argument last night;” “And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt;” “I know that he is sorry and didn’t mean to say the things he said;” “Because he sent me flowers today.” On November 2, 1994, in a court room at the Los Angeles Superior Court Building, a jury is being sworn in for the trial of, The People of the State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson (known to the public as O.J. Simpson). The charge is two counts of murder. The victims are Mr. Simpson’s estranged wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. On June 13, 1994, the two victims were discovered outside Nicole Brown’s condominium, both had been brutally murdered. Evidence found at the scene implicated Mr. Simpson for the murders, leading to his subsequent arrest on July 7, 1994, for the two murders. Evidence showed that Nicole Brown had suffered repeated domestic violence acts perpetrated by Mr. Simpson during their marriage. Now, Nicole Brown Simpson, along with Ronald Goldman had been added, tragically, as statistics to the domestic violence related homicides for 1994. Domestic violence is a crime that affects all of us not just women. Men and children are also victims of this fast growing epidemic. But for the purpose of this paper I would like to focus mainly on the women of the American household. Statistics related to domestic violence are alarmingly high, with approximately 33 million or 15% of all United States adults admitting to being victimized by some sort of domestic violence during their lifetime. According to “National Coalition Against Domestic Violence” each year over 16,800 homicides and $2.2 million (medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner violence are reported annually, costing the nation $31

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