the bad dominicana

missgingerlee:

TRIGGER WARNING-Domestic Violence Situations

My name is not Jane. I need to keep my real name secret because the man who abused me can’t know where I am — I fear for my safety. But when I was leaving him and needed to get him off the cell phone contract we shared, Sprint put my safety at risk.

The man who abused me is the father of my son. When our baby was just four months old, he watched as his father strangled me and threatened to stomp on my head with steel-toed boots. I left and got a restraining order the next day. 

But at a time when I had no job, no steady place to live, and feared for my life and the life of my little one, Sprint refused to let me get my abuser off my cell phone contract unless I paid them $200 — even though the contract was in my name. I had no money, and the man who threatened to kill me could track exactly who I was calling and when.

I was inspired when I saw that another woman started a petition on Change.org asking Verizon to end contract cancellation fees for victims of domestic violence — and she won. So I started my own petition asking Sprint to do the same. Click here to add your name.

When I signed the petition asking Verizon to drop cancellation fees for victims of domestic violence, I was shocked how many other people who signed shared awful stories about Sprint. One woman wrote about how Sprint made her meet her abusive ex-boyfriend in person at the Sprint store before they’d let her cancel her contract.

As for me, I’m still so afraid of my abuser that I can’t even use my real name. But this issue is so important for women like me fighting for their lives, I knew I had to do something.

Cindy’s petition to Verizon made me realize that I am not alone. If she can get Verizon to change its policies to prioritize the safety of victims of domestic violence, there’s no reason Sprint can’t do the same. I know that if enough people sign my petition, Sprint will do the right thing, too.

Click here to sign my petition demanding that Sprint follow in Verizon’s footsteps and end cancellation fees for victims of domestic violence.

Thank you,

Jane Doe
USA

I’d like to throw a bit more info on here, because Sprint does some really shitty things to people dealing with domestic violence & stalking.

When I needed information from my own account 2 years ago for a court case, I went to 14 different ‘official’ Sprint stores trying to get said account information, because I couldn’t get it online, & their 1-800 number told me I had to go to an actual Sprint store, not just an authorized retailer. Sometimes those ‘real’ Sprint stores are few and far between…

I did what I was told & went to the store, & literally begged them to please let me have my account information, & showed them a protective order that stated in plain language that there was a ‘situation’ & my phone/text records were a very important part of that case. I stood there in tears in the last store I went to, & said flat out that if they didn’t allow me to have access to my own flippin’ account information, & my cause got thrown out, they’d just helped somebody eventually murder me.

Did I then cause a scene? Yes I did. Did I tell every woman in that store very, very loudly what they were refusing to do for me? Yep. Did I get every employee name & number on duty that day & file a complaint against every single one? Fuck yes I did.

They don’t care. They don’t care if you are in danger & will not help you, even when you have legal grounds that give you access to your own information. 

The lesson? They don’t give a shit about people dealing with domestic violence or stalking, & it doesn’t matter to them whether you are in danger or not. You’re left out there on your own, & the only one that will ever help you is yourself. This is a daily thing for victims/survivors all over this country. 

So please, please don’t ever tell me I get ‘hysterical’ or ‘paranoid’ when it comes to stalking or domestic issues. I had to change everything in my life to try to stay safe, & I had to claw & fight through even ‘simple’ things in an attempt to get safe. I’m not hysterical, I’m somebody that’s had to learn how ‘on your own’ you can end up in your attempt to stay alive.

/gingerrant

(via katelucia)