Survivor Story: Her Voice Was Heard in Court
Submitted by: Melissa, Survivor Leaving an abuser is terrifying and dangerous enough as it is. Having to face our abusers in court not only increases the risk of retaliation against the victim disclosing the abuse, it can also retraumatize them in the process. There is no guarantee that justice will be served, and for many […]
Survivor Story: Her Abuser Threatened to Mutilate and Kill Her if She Left
Submitted by: *Jenny, Survivor Leaving an abuser is not a simple case of just walking away, and it is not always immediate. It is not uncommon for a victim to wait years before leaving or go through a process of several attempts before they can permanently break free from the abuser. Regardless of how long […]
Emotional Abuse and Sleep Deprivation as Tools of Coercion – Part Two
Written and adapted by: Amy, BTSADV Volunteer In part one of this series, I discussed the basic progression of verbal and emotional abuse and how it can affect us. I also made references to another frequently applied but barely spoken of method of abuse in the abuser’s arsenal against their victim: forced sleep deprivation. If […]
Survivor Story: I Know Why Women Stay
Written by: Brandon, friend of a survivor Victims of domestic violence face many barriers to leaving their abusers, including financial controls, manipulation, coercion, intimidation, isolation, physical punishment, and conditioning resulting from verbal and emotional abuse. Brandon, who has experiences with verbal, emotional, and mental abuse in his own life, shares a painfully profound story of […]
Survivor Story: She Endured Abuse as an Immigrant
Submitted by: *Isabel, Survivor Victims and survivors of domestic violence face a long list of challenges and barriers when reporting abuse to authorities. Particularly vulnerable are immigrants who may face language and cultural barriers, threats of having their children removed from the home, and risk of being reported to immigration authorities in addition to financial […]
Emotional Abuse and Sleep Deprivation as Tools of Coercion – Part One
Written and adapted by: Amy, BTSADV Volunteer Commonly misjudged as a trivial matter, verbal and emotional abuse are perhaps two of the most used tools in the abuser’s arsenal. It is not difficult to think non-physical abuse is not all that serious, because there are no visible wounds left behind when abusers use these tactics. This […]
