In March of this year, a graphic video surfaced of a former baseball prospect beating his girlfriend in a stairwell at a stadium. The incident took place in August 2016 but the video was released in early 2018. Danry Vasquez was released by the Lancaster Barnstormers, an Atlantic League of Pro-Baseball team in Pennsylvania, and cut by the Houston Astros the day after the video was released. Vasquez was later arrested for domestic violence.

Watching the video made me cringe. After Vasquez realized the outrage he caused, Vasquez posted on social media that they were doing okay have a strong relationship despite the incident.

Are you serious?!

You’re telling me that it is all okay after you physically assaulted your girlfriend? That is not okay at all. How can you truly love or claim to love somebody you’re willing to physically hurt?

A couple of years ago in Columbus, Ohio, a four-year-old girl was sent to the hospital after a boy in her class hit her so hard that she needed stitches. One of the hospital workers allegedly told her “I bet he likes you,” because he physically hurt her. The girl’s mother posted about the situation on Facebook expressing her outrage. This shows that kids are taught at a young age that if someone hits you that means they like you.

We as adults need to realize and teach that hitting someone you love does not mean they love you and that physical assault to express affection is never okay. The lesson that someone who hits you means they love you is just some lazy way taught by adults so they won’t have to go through the trouble of punishing violent actions made by kids.

Think of it this way: you would be angry if someone in your family, one of your loved ones hit you out of anger and then told you “I did that because I love you,” so why the hell would you think it would be okay if your significant other did the exact same thing?

It is never okay to hit your significant other and it is never okay for your significant other to hit you. It’s okay every now and then to have disagreements with your lover, but for them to lay their hands on you and physically hurt you, is absolutely disgraceful and disrespectful. You are not your significant other’s punching bag.

You may think they love you perceive that they hurt you out of love, but if they are willing to hurt you, then they don’t love you. To love someone would be to never willingly put them in harm's way, be it physical harm or cheating on them and hurting their heart.

To add on to this, domestic violence doesn’t only occur when it’s the man hitting the woman. It also includes a woman hitting a man and violence in same-sex relationships.

If you’re in a situation like this, I’d advise you to get out. If you can’t get out alone, call 911 or any number of abuse hotlines, either local or nationally based. They will get you in touch with the right people and programs to get you safe. Don’t stay with someone just because you love them, because you deserve better, to have someone that loves you as much as you love them.

National Domestic Violence Hotline: http://www.thehotline.org/, 1-800-799-7233, 1-800-787-3224 (TDD)

National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453