1984 The 'War' is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous
0My name is Johnny Barebones, and this is Tales from an Evil Empire.
Who am I? And why is it so important to me that you lend me your time? It is understandable that you may be curious about these two questions, let me explain for you.
Like I said, I am Johnny Barebones, I am 24 years old, and I have been enduring the callous and reckless nature of emotionally abusive conduct at the hands of none other than my own family, who have engaged in acts of coercive control and deception that are highly unconscionable at best, and at worst should be illegal.
I live in NSW, Australia; and a proposed law has passed through the state Parliament, to the subject of seeking to criminalise the actions of “coercive control,” and their related abuses of power at the expense of the weak and voiceless. This proposed law reform is insufficient in its scope, it limits its reach to the coercion of intimate partners. It’s better to have some reform than none, but I am still left without any hope of my welfare improving.
I have just achieved a stable living situation, I lived in a homeless shelter for 3 months, but being able to be safe at night shouldn’t be a matter of luck, especially when I had never deserved to endure what can only be described as pure torture, and my abusers continue to live free and prosperous lives, while I must pick up the pieces of my life, to this day they continue to deny their involvement in basically ruining me as a person, for their private pleasure’s sake. What twisted and wicked hearts they possess, that they wear the stain of their attempted fratricide (all but in name) and choose to believe they are righteous and just in their ways, and not morally destitute.
Before that I spent 8 months living in a rusty tin shack. On numerous occasions, the dimension of the cruel and malicious abuse I suffered at the hands of my own family was so great at times, that I was seconds away from taking my own life, so that the act of killing myself may have spared me from the wanton brutality that my own mother and father (and many others too) held against me, that they may ensure the prosperity of the greater good, at the price of the individual beauty and intrinsic value of the few (namely myself) that stood in the way of the many.
So when I state the importance of criminalising ‘coercive control measures’, I can assure you that the significance of actually having clarify of legal definition when it comes to seeking aid against emotional and psychological abuse cannot be understated; being able to see the bruises on a helpless victim of physical violence is horrifying on its own, but there is a special form of depravity in being able to torture someone’s very soul, without leaving any evidence of that abuse, the perpetrators of these acts know they will never see as much as one day of accountability, while their victims die without the slightest hope of justice.
Let me clarify the significance of having no legal obligation for authorities to treat emotional abuse as a malicious act with the same severity of physical and sexual abuse – if I were to go to the police, they cannot do anything, even if they want to. Leaving criminality to one side, if there is no concise definition of ‘Coercive Control,’ I am unable to file a police report, since what good comes of an investigation that will never result in conviction anyhow? I am also unable to file any kind of lawsuit, I am not even able to make use of Equity Law remedies, which are made for situations just like mine, and yet it is all useless – this glorified cult of personality that passes for a family, will never have to face any consequences for their appalling crimes of conscience, as long as there is no legitimate means to oppose them.
That is who I am, in relation to my fight to seek accountability and transparency on this matter.
What are these Tales from an Evil Empire?
Leonardo da Vinci once said: “Something is not loved or hated until it is first understood,” and when I first saw news of this proposed reform under consideration within Parliament, it was great to hear that my state government is finally taking this matter seriously, as it should. This change is good, but it’s ability to right the wrongs inflicted against me is non-existent. It can be much better. These collections of videos, taken from a variety of sources and compiled within an array of playlists, tell a tale, one of great injustice and callousness, and yet also the hope of a bright future. Do you want to understand the importance of criminalising Coercive Control as a means of power? Sit down and read into the stories and lessons of many, both past and present, so that you may see the importance of such reform. And just maybe, you might see my life’s lemons laid bare in front of you, and drink the lemonade that is truth, and cold, hard reality.
Yours,
Johnny Barebones