Commander Shepard got a lot of flack for the choices they made in the trilogy. From either killing or releasing the rachni in ME1, destroying or preserving the Collector ship in ME2, to letting the krogan continue to suffer the consequences of the genophage or curing them of it in ME3, Shepard has always had their choices (or lack thereof *cough*) questioned for the “sake of the galaxy”.
This is Bresha Meadows. She is 15 years old. In the summer of 2016, she killed her abusive father and has been in a juvenile detention center ever since. Her mother calls her a hero, while his family claims Bresha should stay in jail for the murder of the family member because he wasn’t abusive.
In my eyes, Bresha did the right thing. In most domestic violence cases, especially in the black community, bystanders always want the abused to do something, not knowing the emotional and psychological toll abuse takes on abused. They always assume that the abused always knew their lover was an abusive person. They always assume that it’s super easy to pack up and leave them, even with children involved. They always assume that the abused must have did something for the abuse to occur.
Bresha did the right thing by ending the life of a man who terrorized his family for 17 years. But now, there are people, no matter how few, saying that she shouldn’t have.
They wanted to try this young warrior as an adult, but never actually tried the adult who abused her and her family. He got the justice he needed, no matter how “wrong” it was.
There will never be a right way for those who harm their abuser to get justice. Those who are abused are meant to be silent about their abuse and move away from their abuse just as quiet, lest someone tips off their abuser about what they’re doing/saying. Abused people must suffer quietly, because after all, abuse is just physical, right?
Bresha and Commander Shepard did what they had to do to not only protect themselves, but their loved ones (if you decided to romance someone) and not to mention the galaxy.
Other survivors of abuse are hailing Bresha Meadows as a hero, as she should be. She did what was needed to bring peace to her situation. Instead, she’s being treated as a hardened criminal instead of a survivor trying to live.
She held the line.
Robin's Writings 