I WAS ENCOURAGED to speak about my situation by a close friend who believes that when you get things off your chest by talking about them, you heal faster and better. So, here goes.
I was badly beaten by my boyfriend because I dared to question him about a woman I saw him talking with. He was beating me so badly that the neighbours called the police, who arrested him. Eventually, he was charged and, months later, jailed. Â
That beating changed my life in that I can’t work for myself as I did before because he damaged my fingers when I was trying to fight him off.
Thanks to physiotherapy I got a lot of movement back in my fingers, but they are still not moving well enough to allow me to work at what I did before. So instead of earning a living for myself, I now have to work for somebody and the money is small.
Therefore, unlike years ago where I had a reasonable income and could take care of my children without help, since the beating I have to depend on family and friends to chip in.
This is one of the hardest things to deal with about my situation. I guess this is why I still feel so bitter. I have lost my independence because of what this man did to me, yet there is nothing I can do to make him pay for it because he went to jail; he was already punished. But what about me?   What about how he changed my life forever?
He came out of prison looking the same way he went in, just a little older. His house was there, so he went back into it. He got a job soon after, and in no time had a woman. For him life continues, but for me I am in pain and will continue to be for the rest of my days. I will no longer be able to hold a needle properly to thread it; I can’t sew things straight anymore or use a sewing machine to stitch like I used to before as my fingers can’t handle that.
How could it be right that he did me wrong but is living comfortably, while I am in constant pain? There is something wrong with that.
But this is not only about me and my suffering. I have children and I can’t provide for them the way I would like. I believe this man should be made to pay money to the court every week, so I can take care of my children properly.
They may not be his children, but by injuring me he has deprived them and should have to pay for that.
What eats me up, too, is how everyone in the district treats him. Everybody talks with him like if he is an average person who does not have a chequered past for nearly killing a woman – me.
When I was a little girl and people went to prison, we used to shun them and they used to be ashamed and keep to themselves. And jailbirds never wanted anybody to know about their past.
 All of that is done with now. Today people don’t seem to care about anything so. As long as you have money to buy what they’re selling or you can help them do whatever, they deal with you. That is wrong.
Ex-convicts, especially those that cripple people, should be made to pay money to that person for the rest of their lives. That would stop them from coming out of prison and living large while their victims are still suffering and catching their tails.
I hear all of this talk about rehabilitation, but if a man has realized he did wrong when he is released and gets a job, he should agree to pay something to the victim to show how truly sorry he is.
The money would never make up for the loss, but at least it would help to ease the stress in the victim’s household.
But I know I’m wasting my time talking about this because people always tell me that you can’t punish somebody twice. As long as they do jail time, that is enough. I don’t feel so.
That is my story for what it’s worth. I hope when you print it that people who are victims of crime like me would call and speak out too so that Government would realize how serious this situation is.
