Out Of The Shadows Denise Brown Implores Met Crowd To Join In Fight Against Brutality

Silence is killing women and children across America.

People who turn their backs at the sound of a man beating his wife, a woman who lets a friend’s bruises go unnoticed - they all are helping violence continue.

Eventually, it’s our children who pay the price, said Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson.

“Eighty percent of abuse occurs in front of children,” Brown told a near-capacity crowd at The Met on Monday night. And children who watch abuse are considerably more likely to abuse by example, she said.

“These children are the innocent victims,” Brown said. “They need a chance to see the other way.”

Brown’s talk, “Children Hiding in the Shadows: the Unseen Victims of Domestic Violence,” was the highlight of the Spokane YWCA’s Week Without Violence.

She was the first in her family to publicly accuse former football star O.J. Simpson of killing his former wife and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Since then, Denise Brown has toured the country, working through the Nicole Brown Simpson Charitable Foundation, speaking out against domestic violence.

Although local YWCA officials said they were on alert for controversy, none was to be found Monday.

Recounting stories of her sister as well as women she has met at shelters across the country, Brown implored the crowd to join together to fight brutality.

“We need to offer each child a life and future without violence,” she said. “If you don’t get involved, someone could end up dead.”

It’s time for men, in particular, to join in, Brown said. “The men out there have to raise their voices,” she said. “You have to stand up and say it’s not acceptable.

“If the guys don’t start working with us, we’re not going to get anywhere.”

Domestic violence is a crime of fear and shame, long overlooked and misunderstood by law enforcement, judges and attorneys, Brown said.

She told the story of a California judge who returned children to their biological mother knowing she had been convicted of domestic violence.

“Guess where those children are today?” Brown asked the crowd. “They’re dead.”

The key to changing decisions such as that one, she said, is to inform people and get them talking.

The hushed crowd sat nearly motionless.

Performances from local artists and Brown’s talk stirred many to tears.

The night started with African American performer Nancy Nelson’s storytelling through prose, song and dance.

A Native American prayer for children from artist Gary Fox set the tone for Brown.

“Please don’t think there is nothing we can do,” Brown said. “This dirty little secret has to stay out in the open.”

Adults can learn better behavior from children, she said.

“If we could just watch little kids sometimes. … we could really learn something. They’ll always be there for one another,” Brown said. “We adults need to be there for one another, respect one another.”

That lack of respect in relationships leaves tens of thousands of women fearing for their lives and the lives of their children.

“The victims of domestic violence are routinely attacked by someone who is supposed to love them,” she said.

“They’re always hoping that things are going to get better.”

But, without people coming together to fight the beatings and violence, hope can seem worthless.

“It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel with your eyes swollen shut.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo