When One Headline Grabs Attention - But So Many Stories Stay Quiet

 Every so often, a case of domestic violence makes national headlines. People share it, argue about it online, maybe even talk about it at dinner tables. Right now, that’s what happened in Wichita, Kansas: a teenager accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend. The baby was delivered but suffered a severe brain injury. It’s the kind of story that shocks everyone - because the victim was so young, because the violence was so extreme, because it feels almost unthinkable.

But here’s the thing: while that case has the spotlight, dozens of others happen every single day - and they don’t trend, they don’t get TV coverage, and they don’t spark nationwide outrage. They just… disappear into local news briefs.

Take Enfield, Connecticut. A 59-year-old man was arrested after allegedly striking a woman and firing off multiple rifles in a domestic dispute. She was left with a serious head injury. It barely made a ripple outside the region

Or South Jacksonville, where a man attacked a partner in a parking lot with a baseball bat and then snatched her phone so she couldn’t call for help. That’s not just violence - that’s control, isolation, the exact kind of tactic abusers use to silence victims

Or Midland, where a man violated a protective order, strangled his ex, and later pled guilty. The paperwork calls it “aggravated assault,” but the reality is: someone who already had a history, someone who was ordered to stay away, decided to cross that line again.

None of those cases got the kind of attention the Wichita tragedy did. But ask the survivors, their families, their communities - and they’ll tell you the damage is just as real.

Domestic violence isn’t always headline-grabbing. Sometimes it’s messy, quiet, hidden behind closed doors. Sometimes it looks like control more than bruises. And sometimes, tragically, it ends in funerals.

That’s why we keep talking about it here. Because whether it’s a high-profile case or a two-paragraph note in a local paper, it all matters. Every survivor matters. Every story deserves to be heard.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788. You’re not alone.