The media report that a powerful campaign is launched across Essex which is urging domestic abusers to change their destructive behaviour.
There is, in my opinion, a perception that domestic abuse only comes in the form of physical attack, but it can also be verbal. Most women know when their partner is either verbally or physically abusing them, and yet they stay in the abusive relationship.
I am not suggesting that all victims of domestic violence stay with the abusers. What I have found among the individuals that I know are the excuses they tell you. ‘He said he’s sorry, a promise he will not do it again, he is going to anger management, the one I hate the most is ‘I love him, and he will change’.
Domestic abuse is about power over another human being, and what I believe we should as a society do is educate the victims and potential victims of the signs of domestic abuse.
To say we are targeting the abuser to make them think about the pain and torture they are inflicting on their partners, may work but in my opinion, we have to strengthen the resolve of the potential victims, they need to know how to leave an abusive relationship.
1. Do not let your partner isolate you from friends and family
2. Do not accept verbal abuse; it can lead to physical violence.
