Document The Abuse

10/12/2026

💜 Beyond October: The Warning Signs That Predict Lethal Violence

After a domestic violence homicide, people often say no one saw it coming. That is almost never true. In case after case, the warning signs were there. Someone saw them. Someone heard them. Too often, no one wrote them down, connected them, or acted on them.

💜 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOMICIDE IS ONE OF THE MOST PREDICTABLE AND PREVENTABLE VIOLENT CRIMES IN AMERICA!

Researchers have identified risk factors that show up again and again before a partner is killed. Tools like the Lethality Assessment Program were built on that research so advocates and officers can recognize danger while there is still time to act.

A pattern only exists if someone can see it.

Here is the problem. Risk factors show up over weeks, months, and years. They are spread across 911 calls, ER visits, text messages, and things a neighbor overheard.

When each incident is treated as a separate event, the pattern disappears. A responding officer sees one night. A judge sees one petition. Nobody sees the whole story.

💜 That is the gap the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit was designed to close. By helping survivors document incidents over time in one structured record, the EAA makes the pattern visible to the people who have the power to act on it.

Things YOU can do this week >>

Learn the red flags and share this so more people recognize them.

If you work in health care, law enforcement, education, or faith communities, ask whether your organization screens for lethality risk.

If someone confides in you about strangulation or threats with a weapon, take it seriously and encourage them to reach out to an advocate or the Hotline.

If you or someone you know is in danger, call 911. For confidential support 24/7, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.

More information from our Learning Hug: https://documenttheabuse.org/blog/idvam-2026-beyond-awareness-to-action

10/12/2026

Take care of yourselves!!💕💕💕

10/11/2026

💜💜💜💜💜

10/07/2026

Every survivor who completes an Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit is carrying forward the work of one woman.

Her name was Susan Murphy Milano.

In 1989, Susan lost her mother, Roberta, to domestic violence.

Susan made a vow: she would change the way domestic violence cases were handled and investigated. She spent the rest of her life keeping it. She lobbied lawmakers, spoke to police officers and students, and went on national television to make sure victims were heard.

And she kept asking one hard question: when a victim finally comes forward, what will the system actually have in its hands?

Her answer became the EAA.

This October, we are honoring Susan every week of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, building to October 28. On that day Stacy Peterson went missing in 2007, and Susan died on October 28, 2012 exactly 5 years later.

Week 1: Who Susan Was. Read her story here:
https://documenttheabuse.org/blog/who-was-susan-murphy-milano

If Susan touched your life, we would be honored if you shared a memory in the comments.

10/06/2026

Domestic violence creeps in quietly through coercive control, through isolation from friends and family, through financial manipulation and escalating threats.

By the time physical violence begins, a pattern of power and fear has often been in place for months or even years.

This is exactly why, when a person disappears, especially a woman in an intimate partner relationship, those earlier warning signs matter enormously.

Peggy Dianovsky, mother of 3, disappeared in 1982 from Schaumberg, IL. She was the victim of ongoing domestic violence and made the decision to divorce her husband of 10 years. She is still missing.

When investigators and communities overlook the causes and risk factors (victimology) in the life and background of a missing person, especially the domestic violence context, vital pieces of the puzzle get delayed or lost entirely.

Such was the case of Cheryl Payne missing from Rockwood, TN since 2003. It’s reported she and her boyfriend had a history of domestic violence and were witnessed arguing before she was last seen.

During Domestic Violence Awareness Month we will be featuring missing persons cases that have a background of abuse. Most of the cases will be from the files of CUE Center for Missing Persons and we invite you to check their website for complete details. ncmissingpersons.org

CUE Center recently celebrated 32 year serving missing persons, advocating for them and their families, and nurturing relationships with law enforcement all over the country. Document the Abuse and CUE Center for Missing Persons work hand in hand to help each other.

FULL ARTICLE>> https://documenttheabuse.org/blog/the-intersection-of-domestic-violence-amp-missing-persons







CUE Center For Missing Persons

10/05/2026

Beyond October: It's Time for Action Not Just Awareness

The System Is Broken. Let's Stop Pretending Otherwise
(scroll down for actionable solutions)

She did everything she was told to do. She left. She went to the courthouse. She filled out the petition, described the worst moments of her life to a stranger behind a window, and was told to come back for a hearing.

Then she waited.

The Waiting Is the Danger: Why Delayed Protection Puts Survivors at Risk

We ask survivors to be brave. We ask them to leave, to report, to testify. Then we hand them a court date and a list of phone numbers and tell them to stay safe in the meantime. That is not protection. That is a waiting room.

Where documentation fits:

When a survivor walks into a courthouse with a clear, organized record of what happened, the petition is stronger and faster to evaluate. That is why DTA built the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit (EAA): to help survivors document abuse in a structured way so their account is ready when they need it, not reconstructed from memory under stress.

💥What ACTIONS you can take this week:

💜Find out how long it takes in your county to get from petition to full hearing. Ask your local court clerk or domestic violence program. Then share what you learn in the comment section.

💜Read and share "Beyond October: It's Time for Action, Not Just Awareness."

💜Learn about the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit and share it with one person who works with survivors.

https://documenttheabuse.org/blog/idvam-2026-beyond-awareness-to-action

10/05/2026

I have met Denise Brown and admire her quest to make a difference using her sister Nicole’s story and this is why the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit exists. yes you can document things but when you put them in a legal format, they cannot ignore it. It is now a legal form that can be brought into court with a username, a password and access to the Internet You can tell your story.

Days after her sister Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, the former wife of football icon and actor O.J. Simpson, was murdered in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994, Denise Brown told a TV news reporter, “My sister was not a battered woman.” For years she had watched as O.J. verbally and, at times, physically ...

10/05/2026

Please set yourself free…. documenttheabuse.org