The emotional scars never go away… They stay forever like open wounds seeping blood and ooze…
It’s ripped our family apart. Even years on the accusations fly left right and centre.
I did write something on it one day as I didnt want to write about the abuse but more off the effects of how routine and mechanical it becomes.
You made some very good points in this post, one thing I appreciated was that you acknowledged leaving is easier said than done. Surprisingly society in general is not very understanding or compassionate towards the victim, especially if the victim goes back. .
I used to think I would never allow any man to abuse me; because I had never been there I didn’t understand why “women” didn’t just leave. What people don’t realize is that (as you said) the abuse starts small, it can be subtle and insidious. By the time the victim even realizes they are in danger they have lost so much of their independence and their support system that they feel helpless.
People may mistakenly believe it is dependent needy women with low self esteem that get sucked into the web of the abuser. But often it is the exact opposite, the independent woman presents a challenge and the abuser has to be very cunning and devious to ensure they control the victim.
If the victim does leave the abuser will try anything, say anything to get them back, they will apologize, admit they were wrong, promise counseling, threaten, cry, and become the sweet passive guy they were in the beginning.
I cover the signs and types of abuse in my blog in-depth, because at 43 I got involved in an abusive relationship and I, like you want to shake people, scream, make them understand that it is a very complex problem. Just leave can be dangerous advice and “tough love” or withdrawing support because the person went back can put the person’s life in jeopardy .
I had never been abused before, I was a strong independent woman and I stayed/went back for 10 yrs. The abuse got so bad I would probably be dead now if I would have stayed. By the time I left I had no support from my family and was too embarrassed to ask for help from my friends.
The abuse was subtle, there were no black eyes, but he had managed to get me fired, evicted, destroyed my business, sabotaged my vehicle, alienated me from my family so I had NO support system, (my mother and step dad gave him exactly what he wanted` me with nowhere to go), he spied on me, video taped me without my knowledge, broke my phone and.laptop and destroyed any thing of sentimental value to me. I can not explain how twisted this man was or how absolutely mentally and emotionally beaten down I was.
I had given up trying to defend my boundaries, values and feelings in an attempt to find peace because it was just too much work. I credit his sister with saving my life, she came to live with us and she was my staunch advocate, time and time again she reaffirmed I wasn’t crazy, she was my second pair of eyes that confirmed it wasn’t my imagination, she was the voice of reason when he was telling me I was insane and paranoid.
I have been out for 11 months and I am nowhere near healed, the emotional and mental scars go so deep, they haunt my dreams still. Just this week I woke up crying because I had dreamed he was laughing while I cried.
(((((((Aneesa)))))) hugs to you! I feel your pain and understand your frustration, and MC you are such a special person, so kind and wise.
BidPete thank you for speaking out about a very serious problem and sharing your experiences. My son was out of the house when I was involved with this man but he did live with me for a period of time and he tried to defend me and it put him in danger. I didn”t tell him what was happening when I went back because I was afraid he’d either kill the guy or get killed trying. It is a horrible thing for a child to endure, especially a boy. The hatred my son has for the guy is scary.
BREAK IT DOWN PETE 
Punching You in the Face!
Holly shit! So where do I begin? Do I start with the self-righteous, turn the other cheek, make love not war, give your kid a time out, little Billy, little Jamal, little Pablo, Little Hassan or who ever! did not mean it, he is just playing; excuse making pansies of the world. Or do I go after the hate mongering, dumb ass, punk ass Coward ass Bullies of the world. Or should I go after the author of this great post who in her wonderfully, colorful way made some incredible points that became secondary to all the back and forth slighting’s on the comments because she just let her emotions cloud her incredible post! It started like this; She writes a great post on how we still make excuses for bullies and how we cloud the thought process of those who are being bullied. And her points are spot on! Then come the comments and some of them attack her for her use of colorful words and that ignites the emotions of other commentors and quickly sides are chosen, the point of the post is ignored, the bitches sharpen their nails and the punks start swinging their dicks. Now the author who has been viciously attacked told to die, told that her daughter should be abused. Lets her emotions get the best of her, reaches down to make sure she still has her balls and let’s go of a scalding new post directed at her readers. And now who remembers the point of the post? I DO! and that is why I won’t choose sides and get at anybody. Because I am focused on the points of the post! Please read it and think about the points! The post is amazing. And read some of the thousand or so comments and have a good laugh at the childishness! (Well some of it is not so childish but actually disturbing). But go back and get the true lessons of the post!!!! And her follow-up post, I think there are 3 or 4 by now. As always my readers get ME and know that I can swing with the best of them. So let me know whats up!! Come get some!
Views from the Couch
There is nothing wrong with being right.
You Didn’t Thank Me For Punching You in the Face
12 Feb 2012 1,003 Comments
by queenofthecouchin Parenting and Random ShitTags: abuse, bully, Child, crush, mother, parent, Teacher
On a somewhat serious note today because of a conversation the other day:
I am sure every girl can recall, at least once as a child, coming home and telling their parents, uncle, aunt or grandparent about a boy who had pulled her hair, hit her, teased her, pushed her or committed some other playground crime. I will bet money that most of those, if not all, will tell you that they were told “Oh, that just means he likes you”. I never really thought much about it before having a daughter of my own. I find it appalling that this line of bullshit is still being fed to young children. Look, if you want to tell your child that being verbally and/or physically abused is an acceptable sign of affection, i urge you to rethink your parenting strategy. If you try and feed MY daughter that crap, you better bring protective gear because I am going to shower you with the brand of “affection” you are endorsing.
When the fuck was it decided that we should start teaching our daughters to accept being belittled, disrespected and abused as endearing treatment? And we have the audacity to wonder why women stay in abusive relationships? How did society become so oblivious to the fact that we were conditioning our daughters to endure abusive treatment, much less view it as romantic overtures? Is this where the phrase “hitting on girls” comes from? Well, here is a tip: Save the “it’s so cute when he gets hateful/physical with her because it means he loves her” asshattery for your own kids, not mine. While you’re at it, keep them away from my kids until you decide to teach them respect and boundaries.
My daughter is `10 years old and has come home on more than one occasion recounting an incident at school in which she was teased or harassed by a male classmate. There has been several times when someone that she was retelling the story to responded with the old, “that just means he likes you” line. Wrong. I want my daughter to know that being disrespected is NEVER acceptable. I want my daughter to know that if someone likes her and respects her, much less LOVES her, they don’t hurt her and they don’t put her down. I want my daughter to know that the boy called her ugly or pushed her or pulled her hair didn’t do it because he admires her, it is because he is a little asshole and assholes are an occurrence of society that will have to be dealt with for the rest of her life. I want my daughter to know how to deal with assholes she will encounter throughout her life. For now, I want my daughter to know that if someone is verbally harassing her, she should tell the teacher and if the teacher does nothing, she should tell me. If someone physically touches her, tell the teacher then, if it continues, to yell, “STOP TOUCHING/PUNCHING/PUSHING ME” in the middle of class or the hallway, then tell me. Last year, one little boy stole her silly bandz from her. He just grabbed her and yanked a handful of them off of her wrist. When I went to the school to address the incident, the teacher smiled and explained it away to her, in front of me, “he probably has a crush on you”. Okay, the boy walked up to my daughter, grabbed and held her by the arm and forcibly removed her bracelets from her as she struggled and you want to convince her that she should be flattered? Fuck off. I am going to punch you in the face but I hope you realize it is just my way of thanking you for the great advice you gave my daughter. If these same advice givers’ sons came home crying because another male classmate was pushing them, pulling their hair, hitting them or calling them names, I would bet dollars to donuts they would tell him to defend themselves and kick the kid’s ass, if necessary. They sure as shit wouldn’t say, “he probably just wants a play date”.
I will teach my daughter to accept nothing less than respect. Anyone who hurts her physically or emotionally doesn’t deserve her respect, friendship or love. I will teach my boys the same thing as well as the fact that hitting on girls doesn’t involve hitting girls. I can’t teach my daughter to respect herself if I am teaching her that no one else has to respect her. I can’t raise sons that respect women, if I teach them that bullying is a valid expression of affection.
The next time that someone offers up that little “secret” to my daughter, I am going to slap the person across the face and yell, “I LOVE YOU”.
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Tagged as bully, children, comments, excuses, hate