Chilling Details About Nicole Brown Simpson's Murder

While no killer ever served jail time for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, something else did happen: It put domestic violence on the nation’s radar as an issue that wasn’t just something that lurked behind closed doors anymore. American University professor Rachel Louise Snyder said in her book “No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us” (via VOA News) that, “Her murder hurled into the forefront a conversation that advocates had been having for years — that it could happen anywhere, to anyone.”

The statistics from a 2018 Violence Policy Center report were pretty staggering. It’s estimated that one in four women will be victims of domestic violence. The numbers were just as shocking for men, with one in nine also being victims.

Nicole Brown Simpson’s death and ultimately her letters, diaries, and photographs opened up a conversation about domestic violence. In some cases, it was in the context of Nicole’s death that people heard the term “domestic violence” for the first time, and that’s true for Katie Ray-Jones, who People notes went on to become the CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. On the heels of the trial came the Violence Against Women Act, and Ray-Jones described the case as “exposure into this world of abuse, specifically physical abuse and emotional abuse, and that controlling behavior that we all started hearing about as the trial unfolded.”

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.