Black women are almost three times as likely to experience death as a result of domestic violence/intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) than White women. And while Black women only make up 8% of the population, 22% of homicides that result from DV/IPV happen to Black Women and 29% of all victimized women, making it one of the leading causes of death for Black women ages 15 to 35.
Many of these women’s stories go unnoticed or live in shame, but award-winning R&B singer and activist Raheem DeVaughn decided to do something about it.
Raheem DeVaughn held a “Queen For A Day” event through his Love Life foundation for a room full of women–strong, determined women who survived domestic abuse and now share their stories of triumph.
MUST READ: The NFL Finally Decides To Do Something About Domestic Violence
DeVaughn partnered with Lyn Twyman of the L.A.S.E.R.S. domestic violence awareness foundation to find the women to pamper for the day. The ladies were treated to a delicious brunch of chicken and waffles by Kitchen Cray and nail, massage and hair treatments by the host venue Maisie Dunbar Spa Lounge in Silver Spring, Maryland. This “Queen For A Day” event was created to encouragement these women to move forward, tell their stories and inspire other women to leave their domestic violent situations and start a living like a queen.
Statistically, Black women experience sexual assault and DV/IPV at disproportionate rates and have the highest rates of intra-racial violence against us than any other group. We are also less likely to report or seek help when we are victimized.
Each one of the Queens took the mic and gave their inspirational stories of triumph over their difficult domestic violent situations. These interviews will be a part of a series of webisodes.
Throughout the day it was evident that each lady thoroughly enjoyed the pampering. The inspirational day ended with Raheem DeVaughn singing a couple of his new songs and a few familiar songs from his multiplatinum selling albums.
DeVaughn’s Love Life Foundation seeks to support an array of community issues such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, autism, mental illness, music and of course domestic violence.
One of the attendees gave a heart breaking testimony of how she was raped, molested, beaten and because of it all, she now suffers from epilepsy. See a full recap video from HelloBeautiful:
Raheem DeVaughn Turns Domestic Violence Survivors Into “Queens For A Day” was originally published on blackdoctor.org
