Domestic violence: 2 Atlantans’ stories

Angela Tuck, the AJC’s Cobb bureau editor, writes about her experiences with domestic violence in an early marriage, something she had not discussed in years.

“Here is a teachable moment — for my daughters and other women who may think physical or emotional abuse is OK,” she writes in part. “It is time to come clean about my past, so they might learn. When I tell them the ugly details, they are only mildly fazed. My story, it seems, is more common than I realize.”

Meanwhile, Yolo Okili, an instructor for Men Stopping Violence, writes in part: “Having acted aggressively toward women in my life, and having now worked with hundreds of men who have done the same, I know all too well that we men commit violence on a broad spectrum. I find some reflection of myself in men who use violence.”

Through Men Stopping Violence, he writes, “I deepened my understanding of the ways in which men support the culture of violence against women. I acquired tools that helped me learn to be assertive rather than aggressive, that made me think about how my actions affect others.”

Read both opinion pieces and comment.