Domestic violence survivors gather in Chandler for healing and to advocate for change

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Crime survivors gathered in Chandler, hoping to find closure and heal trauma left at the hands of their attackers. 

One of them is a woman who survived domestic violence that nearly killed her. 

Why you should care:

Vanessa Martinez has not only been able to find her own inner strength after her ex-boyfriend nearly killed her, she’s now an advocate for others.

She hopes she will be able to save lives.  

“I survived being shot in the head by my ex on September 11, 2021,” says Martinez.

She knows firsthand what it means to survive a violent crime.

The backstory:

We spoke to Vanessa shortly after her close call with death.

“The bullet went through right here, came out, I had skull fragments in my brain, they took them out. They had to take out a piece of my skull,” she said at the time of the shooting.

Big picture view:

Fast-forward to today and Vanessa is actively advocating for fellow crime survivors through the Arizona chapter of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice.

As a mother, Vanessa says she endured a long road of rebuilding after the shooting.

“Sometimes, you know, when you’re going through it, you kind of get stuck in grief and you feel defeated, but in my situation I wasn’t allowed to feel that too long. After the shooting, I literally lost everything. I had to fight for my children, I had to get us a home,” she said. 

Dig deeper:

Advocates with CSSJ hope to reach more survivors.

“We really would love to have more survivors’ voices included within a lot of the spaces, within the systems that affect survivors,” said Celina Meadows, statewide manager of CSSJ.

“I always say those who are most affected are often the most effective in making some of these changes, and not just changes but meaningful changes.”

Vanessa serves as an example of how helping others can also help with self-healing.

“I love it. It has been a huge part of my recovery. I get, you know, the reaction of ‘aren’t you traumatized? Isn’t it retraumatizing?’ But what you have to realize, you sometimes have to relive the trauma in order to heal, and that’s exactly what I do, every day,” said Vanessa. 

What you can do:

She has a message for those currently experiencing domestic violence reach out to an advocate and do not try to leave alone, something she was actively trying to do before she was shot.  

She says resources are out there to help you get out safely.

Crime and Public SafetyChandlerNews