Your Voice, Your Choice: A Conversation with Actress & Activist April Hernandez

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In the United States, an average of 20 people experience intimate partner physical violence every minute. This equates to more than 10 million abuse victims annually.1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, posttraumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, etc.On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines nationwide receive over 20,000 calls. Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime and is most common against women between the ages of 18-24.

In this week's episode Nancy chats with actress, author, & domestic violence survivor and activist April Hernandez to discuss career, family, and how she survived intimate partner abuse. At the age of 16 April found herself in an abusive relationship that she managed to hide from her family, friends and everyone close to her. During the conversation April discusses how she was able to finally leave, how her faith in God saved her, and she offers pointers for parents on what to look for and how to begin the conversation should they suspect their child is being abused. If you or someone you know are being abused, contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or www.TheHotline.org

To connect with April find her on Instagram @

You can purchase her book Your Voice, Your Choice on Amazon, here.