Throughout my life, I have endured men using vehicles as instruments of control and harm. I have had my car stolen, driven recklessly, abandoned in a ditch, and entangled with the police because of a man’s choices. I have watched a man place a lien on a car I had already paid in full. I have seen a vehicle intentionally damaged as a means of dominance. I have even been denied the right to drive a car purchased with my own money. More than once, men have attempted to take my financial stability so that I could not own a vehicle at all.
These were not isolated incidents. They were deliberate acts of control. They were abuse.
If you are reading this and any part of it echoes your own experience, I want you to understand something with absolute clarity: this is not normal, and it is not love. When someone uses your belongings, your mobility, or your independence as a weapon, it is a profound violation of your safety and dignity.
I know the fear. I know the confusion. I know the way this kind of behavior can make you question your own reality. But please hear this: you are not imagining it, and you are not overreacting. What you are experiencing is real, and it is harmful.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, I hope you choose safety when you can. You deserve peace. You deserve autonomy. You deserve a life free from control and intimidation.
You deserve better than what you have endured.
Protect your daughters.
Jennifer Nicole Nelson, Principal Designer
