Domestic Violence Awareness Month
The main message we want all to understand is that not all domestic violence is physical, although naturally the term leans to that trail of thought.
This year we were hoping to hold our conference to mark DVA month except Covid had other ideas. We wanted to continue to spread awareness so this year have been holding a daily awareness post throughout our social media accounts, which have had a great response and following.
As survivors we wanted to challenge some myths and show clearly that it is the bruises you can’t see that are the ones that can last a lifetime, the wounds that are the hardest to repair but also hardest to vocalise or explain. They happen slowly over time and we appreciate the current running storylines in soaps who are showing this also!
Please Watch and Share our Video
We also wanted to address the question often asked… Why didn’t they leave ?
It is the hardest question to answer as there is not one answer but many and we wanted to show why the cycle is so hard to break and why it is sometimes easier to stay.
If we can highlight that the abuse suffered over a period of time can effect even your daily decisions and also how we all hope that the person we fell in love with will return, we see flashes of it, we minimalize and normalise, the coercive control, the emotional abuse, the psychological, physical and or sexual abuse.
Abusers are clever and abuse has many complexities, one size does not fit all, each abuser is different in the tactics they use, each survivor is different as Is the way they process trauma and abuse.
What we can do as a society is educate, understand, don’t judge, listen, believe, open the conversations, remove the shame, the taboo and victim blaming plus switch the questions…
WHY DO THEY CONTINUE TO ABUSE?
Lets #educate2eradicate and hopefully instil informed choices with the ability to spot the red flags/signs and know how to source help when needed.
1 in 3 women, 1 in 5 children and 1 in 6 men will experience abuse in their lifetime, 2 women a week are killed in England and Wales by a partner or ex and in 2017 87% of those mentioned were killed within the 1st month of leaving.
Please watch and share our video and spread the awareness, open the conversation that not all abuse is obvious or physical.
Thank you.
