Wife tells a friend that she was shocked when husband slapped her but consoles her self by saying that he’ll never do it again. Wife’s friend disagrees but she will convince her by telling her friend how apologetic husband was. It started with a slap and it will continue to be so but wife is forced to remain silent. Wife’s friend would ask her if he’s still hurting her. Wife will not tell. She would even cover him up by inventing stories. Wife may go to the hospital or bleed in front of her children but she won’t leave him. She knows he will tell her how sorry he is for beating her.

It was just a slap. He apologized and said he’d never do it again. But he did do it again and the next time he hurt her. He was contrite. She was confused. In the years after the first slap, the violence escalated. She was hospitalized twice. But she didn’t leave. She loved him. He said he loved her. And he was always so sorry afterwards. It’s important to understand why she stayed and what she can do to break the cycle of battering.

It’s a vicious cycle waiting to be broken through constant consultation and awareness. The battered wife syndrome is a difficult one to settle especially when friends remain oblivious to the psychological and emotional condition of the battered wife.

At the tender age of nine, Oprah was sexually abused persons close to her: an uncle, a cousin, and a family friend. She was expecting for and eventually lost a baby at the age of 14, which only added weight to the already burdensome and unspeakable horror she was experiencing at that time.

Her profile may match a thousand others who experience the same misfortune but Oprah differed. If the audience looks for an inspiration in Oprah by tuning in to her talk show, child abuse victims should also need to acquaint themselves with Oprah’s story particularly her decision to surpass her childhood nightmare. Here’s how Oprah did it.

BANK ON THE BEST IN YOU
No matter how ugly an experience is, Oprah did not allowed her traumatic past to refrain her from excelling in school. Her experience did not reduce her to a mediocre student indulging in self-pity and remorse. She strived to make a future that is different from her past. Her academic excellence provided her a scholarship to Tennessee State University.

LOOK BACK AND LEARN, YOU CAN’T LOSE
Oprah was born into poverty and understood that the fight of poor and abused girls are often harder than the rest. Economic problems overlap with emotional ones that recovering from the abuse may take a considerable length of time. What Oprah did after she amassed a large fortune was an example of emancipating young girls in depressed areas through education just as she did. Her school for the disadvantaged children in South Africa revealed just how much Oprah valued learning.

PROMOTE POSITIVE POLICIES AND PROGRAMS
Each can contribute to a safe and child-friendly environment in any means possible but the largest impact would come from policymakers who will determine measures to avoid child abuse. Oprah campaigned for the “Oprah Bill,” which was appropriately named after her. The bill provided a national database of convicted child abusers that may have not totally eradicated the problem but have certainly facilitated social cooperation for the benefit of each child.