WHITESBORO – Attendees clapped and cried as Marielis Tiru, a Middle Township resident, shared her story of four years of abuse at a candlelight vigil hosted by the Coalition Against Rape and Abuse.
The vigil, on Friday, Oct. 27, was the first of its kind to be held at the First Baptist Church of Whitesboro. It was also the first time that Tiru shared her story with the world.
“This is the first time I’ve told this to anybody outside of my family and friends,” she told the 30 or so people who attended; they held up electric candles after her speech to honor past and present victims of domestic violence and rape.
“Everyone knows someone who has been abused,” a teary-eyed Tiru said.
Tiru was intentionally isolated from her friends and family by her abuser, who went so far as to paint over her windows so she could not see outside of her own home, she said. Abuse warped her heart, she said, and began to harm the way her children – who came to the vigil to support their mother – treated others.
She wants her story to be known so that victims like her can see that escape is possible.
The Coalition Against Rape and Abuse was instrumental in helping her as she battled the abuse. The local organization connects abuse victims with law enforcement, free counseling services and numerous local resources that help victims break free from their circumstances.
Martina Singleton, the director of sexual assault services for the Coalition, said that calls to the center’s hotline have “risen tremendously” since the Covid pandemic.
“It’s not just calls from the victims and survivors, but from family members who want to know how they can help,” Singleton said.
She wants those suffering from domestic abuse to know that local folks are ready to answer calls for help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
“It’s the hardest thing in the world to make that initial call,” Singleton said. “When you are living in a situation that has been unhealthy for a while, it can be confusing. But please, just call.”
The Rev. Douglas Moore, the church’s pastor, said that Christian churches don’t do enough to speak out against abuse or to help survivors.
“For far too long, the church has been perceived as a safe space. But it has not been a safe space. It has often been a place of harm,” Moore said to the gathering at the end of the night. “The church needs to repent from its silence, needs to repent from its inaction.”
Anybody suffering domestic abuse should call the Coalition hotline at 609-522-6489.
Contact the author, Collin Hall, at chall@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 156.
