By Brooklyn Joyner
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JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) — Dominique Grant, a survivor of domestic violence and an HIV diagnosis, is sharing her story to inspire others and raise awareness about abuse.
“My abuse came through my diagnosis. You’re talking to a Black queen living and thriving with HIV,” Grant said.
Grant reflected on her past, now four years removed from a stormy 10-year relationship. In 2015, she said she was diagnosed with HIV, learning she contracted it from her boyfriend.
“He had already known his diagnosis and failed to tell me,” Grant said.
Despite the diagnosis, Grant said her love for her partner kept her in the relationship.
“We continued our relationship and, in that relationship, he became violent, emotionally, physically and mentally,” Grant said. “I think that he never accepted his diagnosis, so it turned him into a monster.”
Grant recalled celebrating her 37th birthday with loved ones, music, and good vibes, but the night ended in violence.
“I remember being woken up out of my sleep and dragged out of the bed, kicked, hit, thrown out of my room. I remember crying and praying to God and asking him just to remove me from this situation,” Grant said.
Though it was not the first time she was assaulted by her partner, Grant said it was the last.
“A glimpse of my life flashed before my eyes, realizing, ‘You don’t deserve this. You never did deserve this,’ and he ain’t been back in my house since,” Grant said.
Grant chose to part ways with her aggressor.
“It hurt; it was hard but I got through it,” she said.
Her experience is not uncommon. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in four women aged 18 and older in the U.S. have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
Joy Jones, with the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, emphasized that abuse can take many forms, including emotional, religious, and sexual.
“Most people, when they think of domestic violence, they think about the bruises and the cuts and the broken bones and things like that. But it’s so important to understand what leads up to that,” Jones said.
Jones spends her days promoting legislation to combat domestic violence, noting its widespread impact.
“Children are watching the violence, so it’s not just the two people that are in the violence. It’s the job force — victims not being able to work because they have injuries on them. It involves law enforcement; statistically, more officers die in the line of duty answering domestic violence calls than any other calls,” Jones said.
Jones explained that abusers often seek to maintain control over their victims.
“Victims are not allowed to make choices for themselves. They are controlled by the abuser, and the abuser tells them what they will do and what they won’t do,” Jones said.
Grant said this was true in her case, as she spent years suppressing her feelings about her diagnosis because her abuser wouldn’t let her talk about it.
“I suffered in silence,” Grant said.
Now, Grant has found strength in sharing her story, touching the lives of others who have faced similar experiences.
“I didn’t understand my pain, and God was giving me purpose through it, so he told me to act and move and start telling my story and sharing it,” Grant said.
As a caseworker and domestic violence advocate, Grant travels the country sharing her testimony, including a recent trip to Washington, D.C., where she spoke in front of the Capitol.
“Becoming her is not waiting for permission; it’s doing what you need to do for yourself now,” Grant said. “However that looks for you, you have to do it. You have to have faith, and you have to believe in yourself,” Grant said.
Grant also emphasized that real love should never hurt and encouraged others to prioritize their well-being because their lives matter.
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