Christina Brown Story

Hello my name is Christina Brown and I am the outreach Program Director. I was in a abusive relationship between 2011 to 2013. Prior to being abused I was very easy-going, open, and optimistic. My entire life changed while enduring the abuse. My abuser at first portrayed a man who was loving, protective, and understanding. Before I knew it a scream turned into a push, a push turned into a smack, and then a smack into a punch. I was humiliated in public, tortured behind closed doors, and thought that my life was over. I was only twenty-five years old and I felt like I was being punished. I was suicidal, and only learned to do my makeup because I had to continue to cover my black eyes. He ruptured my ear-drum, he busted my lips, my joints were constantly in pain, and my breaking point was when my abuser stabbed me. I never called the police on him, and I lied constantly about why I was injured. The night I was stabbed the police questioned me and I lied and said I was jumped in an alley. When I was in the ambulance the EMT in the back looked at us both and told my abuser, he knew had stabbed me and I was protecting him. He looked at me with such intense despair in his eyes and said "I don't know you have to do, but get away. I don't want to have to come back and get you in a body bag". His words struck me like lightening and in that moment I knew I would be dead if I did not go. When I was released from the hospital I made a plan. I worked overtime, I packed little bags and dropped them off to my mothers house. Philadelphia was a safe haven for me because I had a lot of family there, so I made plans to move there. I lied and said I was doing doubles on the weekend but I was actually catching the bus and train to philly to meet realtors to look at homes. Finally on his birthday in 2013 we packed our house. I told him we were going to look for a new place while we saved money due to our lease being up. He was to stay with his mother, and I realized I had hope, my faith was restored, and I did not look back. I have been a advocate for domestic violence for the last nine years. I did what I had to do to save my life, and I hope to be an inspiration to others to take the steps to leave. I don't look at myself as a victim anymore, however I title myself as a survivor.