If the word “abuse” is brought up, most people change the topic altogether. No one wants to talk about the “elephant in the room”…no one wants to get involved. Something to the affect of “It’s their problem, let them work it out together” is said, or is at least thought.
What people on the outside often don’t realize is that relationship abuse is not typically something that gets “worked out”. It usually escalates, getting worse and/or happening more frequently.
Some people do find a way out on their own, help from family, via The NDVH, or another support organization. Others can’t get out or don’t know how to get out, so they just live with it. Sadly, approximately 4,000 women a year are unable to leave an abusive relationship alive.
This is a difficult topic for me personally, as I have been on the receiving end of relationship abuse. It is a situation that must be brought to the light in order for us to make a difference to those in abusive relationships. We can not ignore the signs, saying ”
Let them figure it out” or “It’s none of our business”. These abusive relationship situations can become about life or death, there is no way around it. Ignoring it will not make it go away. Statistics do not lie.
It is my prayer that this series will…
1. Raise awareness to the various types and stages of relationship abuse.
2. Enable us to be more aware and able to recognize relationship abuse as we come across it throughout life.
3. Prepare us to support those God brings into our lives that find themselves in an abusive relationship.
Please note….There are many different types and stages of relationship abuse, and admittedly more and worse than I have personally dealt with in my past. If I have not covered a type or stage of relationship abuse, it is because I do not have any personal dealings with it. However, my “ignorance” of the type, stage, feelings or after affects does not change the reality of this relationship abuse. If you or someone you love is in an abusive relationship please reach call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
