By Jill Hunter
Jill Hunter, a Coast native, says the abuse in her marriage began as verbal and emotional mistreatment after the couple’s first wedding anniversary.
When the abuse escalated and her husband became physically violent, she acted quickly, calling 911 and taking steps to protect herself and her young son. She filed domestic violence charges and received a restraining order, beginning the process of rebuilding her life.
Since Sept. 30, 2025, she has been free and focused on moving forward.
For a long time, I kept this part of my story to myself.
I lived through abuse in a season when I believed support was within reach — organizations built for exactly this, people whose calling was supposed to be showing up for women like me. But when my turn came, the phone didn’t ring, and no one checked on me. I carried that silence on my own, and my son carried it, too, while living under that same roof.
What stayed with me longest wasn’t the absence of help, it was watching people who claim to stand for survivors instead extend understanding to him.
The timing made it harder still. It happened in a season right after his surgery — a time we should have drawn closer, not further apart. Instead, I found myself cut off financially, emotionally and completely by any reasonable measure a person would take who doesn’t want you in his life.
EMERGING STRONG AND FREE
For a long time, my account of what happened was met with doubt. That changed the day it became The State of Mississippi versus him, and I stood as a witness to what I’d lived through. The state heard the evidence and made its decision. He was found guilty, and the truth I had carried alone for so long became part of the public record.
Psalm 34:18 tells us the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit. That was true for me long before anyone else believed it was.
So, if you’re in your own season of silence, receive this with me: I am not defined by who failed to show up for me. I am not disqualified because I was doubted. What was meant to silence me has become my testimony. What the enemy meant for destruction, God is restoring (Isaiah 54:17, Joel 2:25).
I am not defined by who failed to show up for me. I am not disqualified because I was doubted. What was meant to silence me has become my testimony.
I am still healing, and I will wear a scar for life, but I am no longer waiting for permission to live fully. Healed or not, I am already free because the woman walking out of this story is stronger, freer and more herself than the one who walked into it.