Anon, one thing that you can do is make notations in your calendar when you notice bruises or wounds that seem to be constant. I saw a true story on Oprah once where a coworker, suspecting the worst about her cubicle-mate's seemingly constant "accidental" injuries, just started noting them in her calendar.
We might think it's none of our business, but what ultimately happened in this case was that the violence escalated and the injured woman took her cubicle mate into her confidence. Ultimately, it was the woman's notes on her calendar that turned out to be the most important evidence in court, because it was an objective record -- just notes and dates from a third party witness, no "he-said, she-said" about them.
I do think hospitals are especially on the lookout for child abuse, especially in children too young to speak for themselves. Like Susan says, there may not be much they can do for an adult who insists that an injury happened accidentally.
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Anon, one thing that you can do is make notations in your calendar when you notice bruises or wounds that seem to be constant. I saw a true story on Oprah once where a coworker, suspecting the worst about her cubicle-mate's seemingly constant "accidental" injuries, just started noting them in her calendar.
We might think it's none of our business, but what ultimately happened in this case was that the violence escalated and the injured woman took her cubicle mate into her confidence. Ultimately, it was the woman's notes on her calendar that turned out to be the most important evidence in court, because it was an objective record -- just notes and dates from a third party witness, no "he-said, she-said" about them.
I do think hospitals are especially on the lookout for child abuse, especially in children too young to speak for themselves. Like Susan says, there may not be much they can do for an adult who insists that an injury happened accidentally.
January 23, 2009 - 9:36amThis Comment
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