How Battered Women Can Get Help From Deborah Alessi’s Organization

When someone commits an act of abuse upon his present or former spouse, girlfriend, or a cohabitant, that act is called domestic violence. In the US alone, it is estimated that an abusive act happens once in 15 seconds; and with this figure, it is easy to understand that more than 2.5 million women become victims in one year.  These instances affect the victims’ lives, including the children and the other family members living within the relationship.

In most cases, these abuses leave marks on victims’ faces and other body parts, so that the pain becomes lasting and seemingly impossible to erase. These marks can be seen in the form of burns, cuts, scars, persistent bruising, and at times, immobility.  These make it difficult for the victim to forget the past, mingle with people, find jobs, or move on with life.

These facts, coupled with her own history of domestic violence by her former boyfriend, has prompted Deborah Alessi and her husband to build an organization that is focused in providing reconstructive surgeries for free to domestic violence victims.  The organization, called the Face Forward, is non-profit, and up to this moment has helped patients, numbering to dozens.  The surgeries are often extensive and of course, expensive (some processes costing up to $200,000), with some victims needing to be operated on multiple times. 

To get help from the Alessis’ organization, it is required that the abuse be documented, complete with hospital bills and police reports. This is necessary because many people would be interested to get plastic surgery for free (even if they are not victims).  So, that is one important requirement.  The other condition states that the patient should be willing and determined to end the violent circumstances of their lives and also the abusive relationship.  What good would it do if you had your face fixed and then go back to the person who disfigured you in a week or two? It would be a waste of effort, time and money.

The last requirement of the Alessis and the organization is for the patients to give back by doing volunteer works to help those who are trapped in violence and also the abuse victims.

The Alessi couple admit that even if they have the best surgeons doing the most delicate procedures, problems cannot be solved entirely.  They have a woman patient who underwent a dozen surgeries and still is not able to open her mouth or close one eye completely. 

Author:-

Author is associated with Face Forward- faceforwardla.org that is a community of leaders Face Forward who help around the nation to victim of Violence. Deborah Alessi is the co-founder of this organization.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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