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Witness to domestic abuse shares her story in book

Cassandra Anderson carries the memory of seeing her mother beaten by her stepfather.

INDIANAPOLIS — There are some things you don't forget as a child, and for Cassandra Anderson, seeing her mother beaten in front of her by her stepfather was one of them.

"He picked up a glass beer bottle and he hit her in the head with it. Immediately dark blood started gushing from it," said Anderson.

Anderson's book, "Rising from the Ashes, A Journey from Trauma to Healing" shares her story of witnessing domestic violence as a child. She read a chapter at her book signing Saturday.

"With my young eyes, I could see so much. I could feel my mother's pain every time he rose his hand to strike her. I could do nothing except bear witness to her pain," said Anderson.

It took her years to recover from the mental and emotional scars.

"It left me feeling hopeless sometimes. It left me feeling depressed just trying to figure out who I was," said Anderson.

Melissa Peregrin with the Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth, Abuse and Suicide says children who witness or experience domestic abuse often struggle to overcome that trauma as adults. 

"They are multiple times more likely to experience substance abuse, mental health issues, long-term PTSD, from that abuse," said Peregrin.

Shirley Carson is one of those survivors. She shared her story at a domestic violence memorial service Saturday night in Indianapolis. She experienced abuse from her mother. The cycle continued in her adult relationships.

"That's all I knew was abuse," Carson explained. "That's all I knew was mistreatment. That's all I knew was getting beat. It triggered over into my adulthood of accepting those same forms of abuse because that's all I knew at that point."

Through support and therapy, both Carson and Anderson were able to heal and break the cycle. They hope they inspire other people experiencing domestic violence to not suffer in silence.

"For me, it was a way for me to take back my power from the trauma and say the trauma does not define who I am," said Anderson. 

LINK: Learn more about Anderson's story

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