Survivor Story: After Overcoming Abuse, Depression, and Financial Hardship, This Survivor Advocates for Others
Submitted By: Neisha, Survivor As many survivors of domestic violence learn once we start to share our stories with other survivors, abusers tend to use similar tactics against their victims. However, each of us also experiences forms of abuse that are exploitative of our individual circumstances. One example of this can occur in interracial relationships […]
Survivor Story: A Son Saves His Mother’s Life
Submitted By: Jovan, Survivor Domestic violence affects millions of women, men, and children each year. For military families dealing with abuse, there are unique obstacles and stressors generally not faced by civilian families. In addition to service members struggling with the stress of deployment, frequent moves, combat assignments, and work-related issues, many military families also […]
Survivor Story: I Lived with Abuse for Eight Years and Thought of It As Normal
Written by: BTSADV Survivor This past August marked my second anniversary away from my abuser. The photo on the left shows me sitting on a pile of clothes in a trashed apartment on the very last day I had ever spoken to my abuser. On the right, I stand two years later. I cannot believe […]
Survivor Story: The Abuse Escalated to a Point Where I Feared for My Children
Written by: BTSADV Survivor Our relationship started out alright. It was new, he was different, and I thought I was in love because he seemed nicer than the rest. After a few weeks went by, he was already living with me. After a few months passed, we were engaged. At one year we were married, […]
Pregnancy Pressures: Learning About Reproductive Coercion
By Sunny Lim In healthy relationships, partners respect each another’s autonomy and choices. In abusive relationships, bodily autonomy disappears and transforms into a term known as reproductive coercion. According to Love is Respect, reproductive coercion occurs when a person prevents their partner controlling their reproductive health. Reproductive coercion is a form of sexual abuse. Abusers […]
Survivor Story: My Abuser Absconded with My Daughter and Threatened to Keep Her Unless I Dropped Charges
Written by: BTSADV Survivor I met my husband while I was still an undergraduate in college studying sociology. He was my professor, 20 years my senior, and a tenured faculty member in the Psychology Department. When I realized he was hitting on me, I remember being simply awed by the fact that a professor would […]