When I was in the midst of my abusive relationship, I thought it was all my fault. Thats what I kept being told and thats what I believed. It took me the time to do the work on myself to understand that none of this was my fault. Once I started seeing things in a new perspective, it was a game changer.
Healing from trauma or abuse can sometimes be a challenging journey. It is a gradual, ongoing process that involves focus and patience for one to come to a point of complete healing. But with the right self-care strategies and support, one can move past the trauma, rebuild their sense of control and self-worth, and come out stronger.
“Why don’t they leave?” This is a common question when many people hear that someone is in an abusive relationship. Leaving may seem simple but it’s never that easy. And here is why.
Domestic violence is a global pandemic that continues to evoke devastating impact on survivors, their families and society at large. The responsibility is always put on the victim with the most common question being, why didn’t you just leave. Stigma and victim blaming make it difficult for victims to report and seek help. It is therefore, crucial for everyone to learn about domestic violence to better support victims and raise awareness.
Are you looking for practical ways to better support a friend in an abusive relationship? Here are some five simple ways to start with.
Gender-based violence affects women of all ages. However, women aged 50+, have been left out of demographic surveys and studies. Most of the documented data is for women aged 15 -49 years. The lack of reliable and comprehensible data on this group makes it even difficult to design appropriate policies and interventions to support them. As a result, they end up invisible and neglected. We need to change this.
A report from UN Women shows a possibility of continuous increase in domestic violence cases. Globally, 243 million women and girls aged 15-49 have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the previous 12 months. Safety planning forms a critical component in the fight against domestic violence during these turbulent times.
The ongoing rise of Covid19 has led to more restrictive measures on movement to curb the spread. It has now become difficult for gender based violence victims to move around to get help. Now has come a more actionable time than ever when GBV service providers thought outside the box. They have to come up with creative ways and tools to help survivors. It is no longer business as usual. Creativity and innovation is the new style of how services will be offered going forward.
In this pandemic, everyone in the community plays a critical role in providing safety for GBV survivors. With combined efforts we can combat GBV and the pandemic.
During this tough period of Covid19, there has been an upsurge of cases on emotional abuse. Reports attributes it to the stress from the pandemic. While it’s true that stress can trigger aggressive emotions, it should not lead to abuse of anyone. Abuse is a choice and it’s wrong. Here are some 8 warning signs of emotional abuse.