SAFETY ALERT: If you are in danger call 911. Or reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or TIY 1-800-787-3224. Please review these safety tips.
Does it seem that fear and domestic violence coexist? They do. One of the most powerful weapons of abuse is fear. It always starts with words—always. Maybe innocuous at first, you might be told you had a dumb idea, or how ugly and undesirable you are, followed by the comment “Nobody else is ever going30
One of my most common discussions with others is why I am a domestic violence speaker. After many years of digging, growing, progressing and learning, life would make no sense being anything but a domestic violence speaker, advocate and trainer. It hasn’t been easy, and it didn’t come overnight. There has to be time for30
Domestic violence and emotional abuse—emotional abuse and domestic violence: You can’t have one without the other. It is a well-tested statistic that tells us all domestic violence begins with emotional and/or verbal abuse. No exceptions. There are far too many who question if they are actually a victim of domestic violence. Their reasoning is they30
Ray Rice – We have been inundated with reports, interviews, survivors sharing their story and repeatedly asked, “Why Didn’t She Leave?” The time comes when, as important and good as it is to analyze why a victim of domestic violence stays in an abusive relationship, we simply must stop spinning our wheels asking the same question30
Sometimes both those who are knowledgeable of domestic violence and those who still have a lot to learn about the subject contemplate if there are various levels of domestic violence. For a long time I actually vacillated between confusion and guilt. I was verbally abused. I was emotionally abused. Later, I was grabbed by my30
Given enough time, a victim of domestic violence is almost certain to hear, “It was an accident.” That could easily be part of the honeymoon phase that occurs in abusive relationships and domestic violence. Most of us know by now that domestic violence is truly a matter of power and control, rather than anger management.30
During a conversation earlier this week, I was shocked and amazed to hear another person make the statement, “She just got what she deserved. She should have kept her legs closed.” At the time, we were discussing the incarceration of someone who had been found guilty of the double murder of his wife and her30
It’s difficult to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa knowing there is a rise in domestic violence during the holidays. While many imagine sugar plum fairies dancing in their dreams, others are seeing stars from blows to their head. This “version” of Twas the Night Before Christmas gives us a true picture of what it’s really like to30
It is perhaps the most common topic raised by those who don’t understand domestic violence – why women stay in abusive relationships. I have even heard it said, “Well, she must like it, or else she’d just leave.” Really? Who enjoys being emotionally and verbally denigrated, abused and oftentimes battered or beaten? Women stay in abusive30
It is important we all reach a level of understanding domestic violence. Amazingly, in spite of the expansion of awareness, many are still asking, “What is domestic violence?” One definition is: A pattern of abusive behavior in an intimate or romantic relationship where one person chooses to control the relationship through the use of force,30