PORT TOWNSEND — Lynn was married to an abusive man for 20 years, thinking his behavior was an acceptable expression of love.
While the Port Townsend resident and her three children mostly endured mental torment through verbal abuse, she vividly remembers when her husband physically attacked her.
He pushed her and pulled a clump of hair from her head.
Lynn, not her real name, was six months pregnant at the time. She was spared further physical abuse when her father intervened.
“He would go virtually berserk,” Lynn said, describing her ex-husband.
In a rage, he would destroy things, she said.
One day, Port Townsend police responded to Lynn’s home when neighbors reported overhearing what they believed was a case of domestic violence.
It was February 1993.
One of the police officers at the scene handed her an envelope with information about the Domestic Violence program in Jefferson County.
Through the program, she met Peggy Thompson and then a legal advocate who helped Lynn change her life forever.
“If it hadn’t been for Peggy or the program, I would have gone back to him,” Lynn said last week at the program’s offices tucked away off Lawrence Street.
“I think now what I could have done with that 20 years.”
Thompson helped shelter her from her husband and get a divorce.
‘She is a survivor’
Like other victims of domestic violence, Lynn thought being abused was just a part of marriage, having grown up with parents who fought.
Today, Lynn is in a happy relationship and her children have grown up.
“She is a survivor,” said Cheryl Bozarth, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Program executive director since September.
“When you grow up and are told you are worthless and you see your parents fighting, you think that’s normal.
“But it’s not.”
In 1979, the Domestic Violence Task Force organized a volunteer program to respond to victims of domestic violence.
Jefferson County residents at the time displayed little awareness of the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Today, the program has grown to four full-time and four part-time employees and 10 volunteers, said Bozarth.
She said that in 2004-05, 1,791 services were provided to Jefferson County residents, including advocacy-based counseling, legal advocacy, crisis intervention and an emergency shelter.