According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey of 2015, 1 in 5 women experienced attempted or completed rape during her lifetime, whereas 1 in 14 men was made to penetrate someone during his lifetime. Such pieces of statistics might be shocking, but they are the part of reality in which we have to live in. Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of your race, the color of skin, education status, or position in society.
That’s why such organizations like the National Domestic Violence Hotline at all exist, whereas their main objective is to end domestic violence per se. Understanding that some people can be experiencing domestic violence for prolonged periods of time without informing respective organizations or the police, we aim to reach an alternative objective, which relies upon preventive measures.
In our aim to stop domestic violence from happening, we’ve prepared guidelines that can offer much-needed support to people who live with an abusive partner with warning signs. Read on.
Signs, signs signs
To stop domestic violence from happening, any partner has to be aware of the warning signs, which expose all the characteristics of abusive behavior or an abusive relationship.
The most common ones include being jealous, embarrassing you, total control of yourself and your finances, making you feel guilty, and pressuring you to have sex when you don’t want to. Even if you think you’re in an intimate relationship with a person whom you love, these signs are the warning alarms that most likely result in abuse and violence in the long run.
An abuser, usually in heterosexual relationships, tends to take control over yourself by imposing restrictions, bans, and threatening violence to you.
Once you realize that your relationship has one of such signs, the more chances are for domestic violence in your household to happen.
Say no to ignorance
One of the most useful ways to stop domestic violence once and forever is to start recognizing a problem.
If you think that the patterns and behaviors of your intimate partner violence would slow down or reverse, you’re wrong. If you’re feeling yourself threatened, not comfortable, scared, controlled, or discouraged, it’s the right time to contact any domestic violence organization.
If you have heard something from your neighbors regarding domestic abuse or odd behavior of an abuser, don’t be ignorant. Sometimes, a decision to call the police can save a life or mental health of a victim.
Leave an abuser
One of the best decision you can ever make is to leave a person who can harass you, based on the warning signs outlined above.
If you have nowhere to go, don’t hesitate to contact your family members. The good news is that dozens of shelters exist across the United States, which offer professional assistance to the victims of violence and abuse.
Just in case, find the one nearby to ensure that the warning signs of your partner are real and threatening to the well-being of yourself and your children.
Leaving a person who can abuse is a courageous decision, which requires lots of help from a family member or a friend to accumulate a will to do so. Nonetheless, it is one of those solutions that can save you life before any violence takes place.
Education is a must
The best answer to the question about how to eliminate violence from happening in any family is to know simple rules and being informed of what to do in such cases.
Abuse includes not only physical injury but also emotional harassment, which can be far more traumatizing for one’s well-being.
That’s why the best way to end countless circles of violence is to raise awareness of this question within your family. By inspiring a culture of respect in relation to one’s romantic partners by showing a great example of a respectful and healthy relationship, your children are more likely to follow your patterns in the future.
Preventing violence beforehand
Sometimes, people might be in shocking situations where it can be tough to distinguish whether they are experiencing harassment or not.
The best way to determine it is to make a few phone calls to the organizations working with this issue. Taking a phone call is the easiest way to get answers to the frequently asked questions or claim prevention guidelines that can be useful for any context or setting.
In a worldwide strive to change our planet for the better, the best way is to have enough information on the problem, which still, unfortunately, remains quite a marginalized topic for a public discussion.
Speak up
Yes, we realize that it can feel badly to speak out loud about former violent experiences if any happened to you. Notwithstanding, the realization of this issue is impossible without disclosing some of the most horrific cases that happened to people. Disclosing such information doesn’t mean that you’re weak.
In reality, it shows just the opposite. If you are up for some inspiration, track dozens of public statements made during the Me Too Movement, which inspired millions of women to speak out loud about their experiences of harassment.
In a word
Regardless of what is your previous experience on violence is, we should cooperate on stopping it once and forever. Once you follow our recommendations, especially the ones related to informing other people, recognizing a problem, and knowing the warning signs, you can change this world for the better.
If you are struggling after leaving an abusive household by yourself, you’re a real hero that will receive its professional help from competent organizations working on this issue.
Overall, we urge you to raise awareness over this issue to share an informative function that we have to deliver to mitigate such cases all over the globe. We hope that by doing these measures, we are capable of ending the never-ending cycles of violence and harassment in our society.
