At work yesterday, we were talking about going to see the dentist, when one guy commented that he wanted to get his new girlfriend to the dentist to fix her teeth that all got broken by her ex-boyfriend's friends a few years ago. You see this a lot, women with broken teeth, especially front teeth, were some man had taken his fist to their face.

I first noticed the trend, on a girl in my YSA group, back when I was TBM years ago, who was trying to leave the church. One day, I noticed her front tooth was broken, with a perfectly round hole in its center. She claimed she just had fragile teeth, but I noted to myself that her father wore a ring, with a stone, that would have made the perfect indention. Being a good TBM, I stayed out of it. I hope the me today would have done something more, anything, to get her out of it.

Any abuse of a woman, or man is wrong, but to me, there is something that stands out from a broken smile that symbolizes the whole problem perfectly. One of my sisters is married to a TBM jerk, who beats her and their handicapped daughter. He will not allow her to have contact with our family, and it is only through court orders that we have contact with the child. Posting stuff on the internet does not solve problems, but it is a start. If you know anyone who is an abusive relationship, do what you can to help them get out. They probably will not, but if they hear enough voices, maybe we can shake them to awake to their problem.

Is there any hope of helping your sister?

We sued to get the daughter away, and in my sisters home. We have five more siblings who are willing to try, plus my parents. We almost won last time, and Child Protection makes his life a constant living nightmare, which is good. We hope that the next time he messes up, we will be able to at least get the child out.

Plus, your neice knows that there are people on the outside looking out for her, which also has to help.

But why is your sister in the situation? That's so sad, that for whatever reason she feels the need to stay in this situation. It's sad for her and her daughter.

My best friend was murdered by her estranged husband. I take spousal abuse very seriously (and child abuse too).

Google battered spouse syndrome. She was diagnosed as suffering from it by a court appointed shrink.

I really hope she gets away before it's too late. I know how hard that can be.

I hope things will work out to where your sister can get out of the relationship. Why isn't the bishop doing anything about this situation? Has he been notified? What about the SP?

They have, and while the bishop is a young liberal Mormon who has tried to be helpful, the church has done more harm then good in this situation.

Tell me about it. My brutal temple ex-husband shattered both sides of my lower jaw, and I've had many jaw surgeries and dental restorations. Shards of bones keep moving around and causing problems decades later. These problems are usually not covered by insurance, so many of the women go untreated. The women also go without therapy, either.

My dear, adorable dentist (a Mormon) helps these battered women for free, and their children as well, when they are welfare cases. Bless his heart!

I think I was maybe 6 or 7 at this Christmas. My family and I had finished opening presents and cleaned up after dinner. There was a knock at the door, something very odd for a Xmas early evening.. My mother opened the door and a woman stood there, obviously in bad shape. She started begging to let her in and use the phone. My mother let her in and I was sent upstairs with the rest of my siblings.
My father called the police for her and while waiting for them to arrive, my mother pureed some turkey and heated it up with some leftovers from our dinner.

After the police had taken her statement and took her to a women's shelter, my mom and dad explained to us that her boyfriend hat beaten her so bad that she had no teeth, two broken arms, and a broken jaw. I was very upset and started acting out for a few days. My mom noticed and sat down and talked with me, then decided I needed to go down with her to the shelter to check on the woman. She had left after a day or so.

I will never forget this poor woman who came to our door. I often wonder what happened to her and if she got away from her abuser.

Despite the fact my parents were both abusive, I am still touched they took this woman in for a few hours and took care of her.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 06:00PM by Itzpapalotl.