Help Me Fight My Legal Case

I have been trapped in a legal case for nearly seven years. Women, we have a code, a language. You'll see it in support groups and those who have faced similar know and read between the lines.

Like many others, asking for help means you get in trouble. We must, of course, as women, say nothing.

It becomes a choice that I do not wish to make. It's a choice between giving the story and obtaining aid. Alternatively, fall in line and suffer.

The coercion is subtle and powerful. "Think of the children." We want to cry, "I only think of the children and that they are going without."

More importantly, we think of the children when we cannot give them all of ourselves because a legal matter means that we must...shhhhhhhh.

I suppose I am asking that I be trusted, and that those who know the "code" will know that far too many of us hit a wall. When that wall is hit, it means that we are living a life where we have even lost the freedom of speech. Such freedom, of course, is not without consequences. We reach a point where so little freedom of speech exists that we can no longer ask for help.

I ask you to help me win my legal case. As with most women, we know the odds are not in our favour. We were too busy parenting, doing chores, and working. We trust that our sacrifices had value.

I promise that my case has merit, even if at the moment things are tough. I thought it was almost over, and then, as many women realize, I was falsely accused of doing something awful, and of course, the worst part is being believed.

I ask that you believe me and help me to survive my case.

Thank you,

Yvette Van Veen