MEMPHIS, TN -
While overall crime is down, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there's one alarming statistic: domestic violence is up.
The TBI says murders are down 23%. But the report goes on to say that 50% of all crimes against people are now linked to domestic violence.
Victims of domestic violence in the Memphis area got to spend Mother's Day in a safe environment, having fun with their children.
"We kind of forgot everything that was going on in our life," says Ashley Wright as she held her 5 year-old son, Christian. "We were just dancing and listening to the music and having a good time."
Ashley says she was sexually assaulted repeatedly by a relative.
"It was hard," she says, "It was hard for me to say anything, especially since I had to involve my family. It's really difficult."
The owner of "The Shack" restaurant on Riverdale wanted to do something special to help battered women in the Mid-South so he hosted a Mother's Day brunch for Ashley and other struggling moms.
"We just wanted to give back and do something for these women on Mother's Day," says Wallace Montgomery.
Memphis City Councilwoman Janis Fullilove was a guest speaker at the event.
"When a woman is abused as a child, such as the case with me," Fullilove told the group, "you grow up with more problems than just the pain of the abuse. That individual lives with the anger that no one was there to help me, no one intervened on my behalf."
Fullilove told the women they are on the right path now that they're away from their abusers and she told them to keep looking up.
As for Ashley, she says she is on her way, but she wants to make sure her son learns a valuable lesson.
“I want him to know what happened," she says, "so he doesn't end up like that, or assault someone."
The owners of “The Shack” plan on having a similar brunch for Father's Day for men who have been battered.
