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Gabby’s Murder is a Sad Reminder of Domestic Abuse
Intimate partner violence accounts for over 50,000 deaths yearly in the world
The picture shown above breaks my heart. A distraught Gabby Petito is shown crying uncontrollably, during police contact on August 12th in Moab, Utah. This is the much-talked-about domestic incident between Gabby and Brian Laundrie….the incident that preceded Gabby’s eventual death by means of homicide. And the incident that has preceded Laundrie’s disappearance and manhunt.
I struggled with whether to show this picture in my story. I, like many, would much rather remember Gabby as the sweet, smiling soul that she was. But this picture brings to light the very point of my story. Domestic violence can be deadly. That’s reality. It’s responsible for hundreds of deaths of women alone, each and every day in our world. And, according to statistics from the UN, it’s responsible for the deaths of over 50,000 women worldwide, each year. That’s staggering, when you stop to think about it. Over 50,000 women die annually, at the hands of the intimate partner that they should be able to trust — to love. That’s truly disgusting.
Domestic violence has no boundaries
As a former police investigator, I responded to countless calls of domestic violence in my 20 years as an officer. So many in fact…
