In a very revealing and powerful episode on domestic violence Patrisha McLean, the founder of Finding Our Voices and the ex wife of singer Don McLean, shares her story of overcoming years of spousal abuse at the hands of her abusive ex-husband. We learn about the progression and controlling nature of domestic violence and how Patrisha endured verbal and emotional abuse which escalated into a violent end. She is very vocal about the shortcomings of the legal system and advocates passionately for victims of abuse to help them literally find their voices.
Patrisha McLean, founder/president of Finding Our Voices, is a photojournalist and human rights advocate who in July 2021 was named by WOMEN’S e-News as one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century.
In 2016, Patrisha’s secret of 29 years was outed in the most public way possible with worldwide headlines over the domestic violence arrest of her celebrity husband.
Dozens of women in her small community in Maine told her they too had been terrorized by an intimate partner: They hadn’t known about her and she hadn’t known about them and they all had felt alone.
Patrisha’s eyes being opened to how domestic abuse is everywhere– but no one knows because no one talks about it –sparked Finding Our Voices.
Finding Our Voices is a sisterhood of survivors standing proud and speaking loud to educate everyone about the pervasiveness, insidiousness and complexity of domestic abuse (including that emotional abuse can be at least as damaging as physical abuse). They empower girls and women to recognize, avoid, safely leave and heal from dangerous relationships, and promote systemic change toward justice for victims, accountability for perpetrators and safety for all.
Learn more at https://findingourvoices.net/
