Domestic violence

Do you find it hard to understand why women don't leave the men that abuse them? Or why men stay with women who routinely put them down? Have you found it hard to understand why you stayed with someone who was bad for you?

Leslie Steiner gives a very clear talk about her own experiences of domestic abuse, explaining how she found herself in such a relationship and why it was so hard to leave.

Considering the high levels of silence from people in such relationships, I feel passionate about sharing her story so that others voices may come out of the silence.

You can watch her talk here.



Postscript

I was once in a relationship like this. Thankfully it was in the early stages and so I was never hit, except with words. I thought he needed me and he regularly threatened to kill himself if I left him. I was only a teenager when we met. I remember feeling confused about why he was as he was and I felt sorry for him. I thought he was damaged from the abuse his father meted out to him as a child and that I was the only person who could help him or save him. He screwed with my mind and distorted my perception of reality.

Now, I am grateful for the experience, because it means I have the capacity to understand people in similar situations. I hope that others can also understand through stories like Leslie's, if we share her story, rather than having to experience it for themselves.