It Ends With Us shone a spotlight on domestic violence, but there were issues with it not including a trigger warning and Blake Lively’s disastrous marketing campaign where she tried to pass off the film as something you want to see with your girlfriends. Now singer and actor Jana Kramer’s approach to the topic has weighed in, and her message is much better thought out.
The “I Got the Boy” singer recently created a post to bring awareness to domestic violence month. She also highlighted the importance of raising her daughter to know her worth. Kramer is a mother to three children: she shares a son, Jace, and a daughter, Jolie, with her ex-husband, Mike Caussin, and in 2023, she became a mother again to her son, Roman, with her current husband, Allan Russell.
Jana Kramer highlights domestic violence with a powerful post
Kramer shared a beautiful photo of herself and Jolie, whose forehead she tenderly kisses. In the caption, she informed fans about how she was reflecting on October’s domestic violence month and thinking about her daughter. “There are many things I’m teaching her, but the one main thing I try to drive home with her is her worth. And what’s right and wrong. I often wonder if I knew my worth and felt enough whether or not I would have allowed physical and emotional abuse for as many years as I did in my past,” she wrote.
Kramer bravely recounted her abuse, including being choked and bruised, and how she contemplated that if she had known her worth, the outcome might have been different. “I would have known my worth, and known what wasn’t right, that I would have been strong enough to walk away. To know that I didn’t deserve abuse. To reach out,” she wrote:
“Through talking to survivors I realize some had wonderful upbringings and parents that made them feel loved and worthy but it was the world and the men that made them feel otherwise. And then, the abusers words made to make them feel crazy or in every case I’ve seen and felt that it was our fault. Here’s the truth, one time putting their hands on you is one too many. It’s not okay. It’ll never be okay for that to happen. No matter what you did or said doesn’t warrant someone putting their hands on you. Period. And I PROMISE you there will be a man who will NOT put their hands on you.”
Kramer highlighted that she only genuinely believed in good men after marrying her husband, Allan. She informed fans that she had three past physical abusers but chose not to name them. “But before I met Allan, I also found my worth, and through intense healing, I realized what I don’t deserve. And no one deserves abuse. You are not alone in your journey,” she shared, informing fans how she would go into more detail on the Whine Down podcast as she discussed the topic further with a domestic abuse survivor.
Discussing a subject like domestic abuse is incredibly difficult as no two stories are alike, and reliving the awful things that happened to you can be unimaginably painful. However, Jana Kramer’s fans have applauded her decision to be so open. The post is filled with heart emojis from people who have shown their support, there have also been messages of encouragement and women who have shared their stories. “Thank you for tackling this topic! It’s one that is still so stigmatized that many who’ve been abused (me) do not talk openly about it,” a fan wrote.
“I love this! Such a profound passage that I could relate to and never found the words to write about. To turn pain into a beautiful, eloquent message is so powerful beyond words! Thank you for your strength and courage to speak out,” another reads.
Abuse doesn’t happen the way many of us may think: it starts slowly, and sometimes, we don’t even realize it is happening. By the time an abuser begins to hurt us, our confidence may already have been chipped away. We might already feel there is no escape or that what he did will never happen again because he cried and apologized. This is why domestic violence is so terrifying; it’s often hard to even see it coming. In some places, abuse is even normalized, and UN Women reveals that 1 in 3 women face violence.
“Every 11 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally in 2022. The crisis of gender-based violence is urgent,” the website reads. These statistics are staggering! Of course, as the campaign against gender-based violence states, there should be “no excuse.” But sometimes, this is easier said than done, which is why it’s so important for celebrities like Jana Kramer to use their platforms and voices to share their stories to raise awareness and create change.
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.