Society Protects the Wrong People with Abusers in Power

By Sammie Rose After a brief hiatus from Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence, I stepped back to prioritize, recollect, and regroup the quiet but essential work of healing. Caring for my children, tending to my inner world, and making space to process my current day reality. As I grappled with life and dealt with […]
Anxiety is the Lingering Shadow of Being Controlled

By Iris Pendelton For many, anxiety is often pictured as simple nervousness, a racing heart before a presentation. Or feeling uneasy in a crowd. But for survivors of abusive relationships, anxiety takes on a far more complex and often invisible shape. It lingers long after the abuse ends. Weaving itself into everyday thoughts, decisions, and […]
Communication is Key to Helping You Heal from DV

By Mikayla Shave While communication is widely observed to be central to the implementation process, the field of implementation science has largely overlooked the details of how communication may be utilized to better facilitate implementation. Within organizational changes such as intimate partnership changes, employment changes, and potentially educational changes, communication has been observed outside of […]
I’m A Survivor of Terrible Violence

By Survivor Jani **The following is written by a survivor of domestic violence and abuse. Names have been changed to protect all involved.** I met my previous partner when I was 18, and he was 27. We got married pretty fast because I got pregnant with our daughter. He was very sweet, but after we […]
Finding Peace After Endless Beatings

By Survivor Brittany **The following is written by a survivor of domestic violence and abuse. Names have been changed to protect all involved.** I met my ex about 6 months after I had my first born son. He was everything I had ever wanted in a partner, or so he seemed in the beginning. Building […]
Sexual Abuse to Trap Me

By Survivor Lynn **The following is written by a survivor of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and abuse. Names have been changed to protect all involved.** At the age of 20, I was introduced to an older man whom I eventually started dating. We had only been dating for several months when he used reproductive coercion […]