[media-credit name=”Bob Mulrenin” align=”alignnone” width=”620″]
[/media-credit]
TNA Knockout Jade recently spoke to the Huffington Post on the subject of domestic violence. In the interview, Jade shares her own story on the issue, as well as finding support through Safe Horizon’s #PutTheNailInIt campaign.
As a female athlete, Jade says there was a sense of pressure she felt on staying quiet about the abuse she would endure behind close doors.
“Women athletes, CEOs, those in power, we feel this pressure to be a role model to other women, to be strong, that we don’t want to let them know our struggle. I didn’t want to be known as a ‘victim.’ I was also trying to get on TV, so if I tell my story, would this mess up my career? It got more and more regular that if I said something he didn’t like he would get violent. One time I was in bed and we had a disagreement, so he left the room but came back in to head-butt me. Then he started to choke me. In fact, whenever he didn’t like something I said, he would choke me. Soon down the line, I realized that his mindset was because I’m not hitting you, it’s ok. Because I’m not leaving a mark on you, it’s ok.”
Jade is no stranger to having take part in intergender matches throughout her career. Though some may argue that these kind of matches influence domestic violence, Jade indicates that the matter comes down to safety.
“We choose to get in the ring. We’re trained to keep ourselves and our opponents safe. But when someone brings it back home, that’s not wrestling anymore. That is not entertainment. That is just straight abuse. I just wish that, as wrestlers, when we claim that this is going on, that we’re not second-guessed, that we’re believed. The minute we mention it, it’s sensitive and we want some support.”
Despite the pain Jade has gone though, she credits the #PutTheNailInIt campaign for helping her give that voice to share her story of survival.
“I started getting more and more support from people who knew what the campaign meant or asked why my nail was painted. So, painting my nail became my secret way of telling the world ‘I’m a survivor.’ And, so, the #PutTheNailinIt campaign helped me a lot. For the first time in a long time I felt support from other people. Now, I want other survivors to know ‘I believe you.’ It’s ok to leave. It’s ok to speak out. It’s ok to seek help,”
You can read the full interview here.
To find out more about the #PutTheNailInIt campaign, visit www.putthenailinit.org.
