Women no longer need to remain silent in the face of abuse. Its time to take that step forward, and just leave. Its time to pick yourself over anyone else.
“It’s okay, I just fell down.” She says as she pushed down the sleeves of her shirt. Those sleeves that cover up the proof that things are really not okay. There are many relationships that start off perfectly. You’re happy, he makes you happy. You don’t have a single care in the world and there is nothing to worry about. But then a couple of months go by and you begin the see the signs. At first, you brushed it off as a slip of the hand, and as his hands continue to slip, and the frequency of apologies stops following you begin to question yourself.
You start to wonder, “What did I do wrong? How can I make it better?”. Well, the truth is, you did nothing wrong and there is absolutely nothing you can do that will make it better. It’s easy for us to blame ourselves in these kinds of situations. It’s easy to sweep these instances under the rug. But suffering in silence is not the answer any longer. Standing up for yourself, addressing the problem and saying, “This is not okay” is what needs to be done now. Women constantly face the brunt of abuse not only from their partners but also from society. We’re too busy thinking about the consequences of our actions, or what would society say? That we forget to take care of our own needs.No one deserves to feel inferior to their partner, in both a physical way or an emotional way.
Generally, abuse is always considered to be valid only if it is physical which is not always accurate. Just because there are no marks that don’t mean that it didn’t happen. Abuse can be both emotional and physical. Mental health is just as important as physical. Your partner cannot demean you, your appearance, the way you walk, the way you talk. Nothing. We no longer live in a man’s world where women don’t have a voice. If you have the opportunity to look at the situation in an objective manner, you would never want anyone you know, to go through what you are. Being hurt and angry are valid feelings for one to experience in these kinds of situations. If you’re scared, you should know that you are not alone. There will be at least one individual within your friends or family who will help you out.
The first step is always the hardest to go through. The actual task of leaving, of accepting that you went through something traumatic, but you yourself know that it’s not okay. It will take a lot of courage to do so. But leaving does not mean you are weak. Leaving means, you’re strong and you are aware of how you should be treated. There are helplines and support groups that will help you process and heal. So if you are going through these forms of abuse, please take the step. Pick yourself, and just leave. If you do, things only get better from there.
Originally published at https://www.fuzia.com.