Lucky Man: A Memoir by Michael J. Fox

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Michael J. Fox writes in his book Lucky Man: A Memoir (2003), “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered” (Fox). Abuse plays a dominant role in the world we live in today. According to the article National Statistics, “Each day…4 women die as a result of abuse” ("National Domestic Violence Statistics"). Abuse can be broken into many categories such as physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and mental. Women from all kinds of backgrounds get abused every day; they are attacked by strangers, but most often they are hurt by people who are close to them. The most critical problem is that women choose to stay in abusive relationships. Sadly, when it comes to abused children they are forced to stay trapped with their abusive parent(s). Children are wholeheartedly dependent on their parents, unless the child or someone reports the abuse.
Many of us are filled with memories of a positive and cheerful childhood, but unfortunately that is not the case for everyone. Debbie Rosa is a nineteen-year-old resident of Riverside, CA, formerly from Los Angeles, CA. She is an undergraduate at the University of California Riverside where she plans to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. Debbie is a young woman who was torn between maintaining an unhealthy and harmful father–daughter relationship or severing all ties to her father and risk being unfairly judged, condemned and criticized by her extended family members and friends. She was a victim stuck in an abusive familial relationship for many years, but she chose not to surrender her dignity.
As I passed through the black gate, down the narrow pathway that lead to the pool, I noticed Debbie sitting on an adirondack chair...

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Works Cited
Fox, Michael. Lucky Man: A Memoir (2003): n.pag. Goodreads. Web. 4 Feb 2014. .
"National Domestic Violence Statistics." National Domestic Violence Statistics n.pag. Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Web. 4 Feb 2014. .
Kearl, Holly. "Bystander Responses." n.pag. Stop Street Harassment. Web. 6 Feb 2014. .
"Emotional Abuse." n.pag. American Humane Association. Web. 6 Feb 2014. .
"Domestic Violence/ Abuse Statistics." n.pag. Statistic Brain. Web. 6 Feb 2014. .

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