Our culture harbours a stubborn unwillingness to take domestic violence seriously. Anyone can suffer domestic violence and abuse, yet we often tend to overlook, excuse or deny it, and this is especially true when the abuse is psychological or verbal rather than physical. Truth is, not all abusive relationships involve physical violence and just because you aren’t battered and bruised, it does not mean that you are not being abused. Emotional and verbal abuse is no less destructive, and although often minimised or overlooked, many men and women suffer from it everyday.
Whether physical, sexual or emotional, domestic violence should never ever be condoned appropriate. Whether married or in a relationship, a fight between partners should never go to the extent of physically or psychologically abusing one another. Domestic violence is not a choice. No one should ever live in fear of the person they love, and no one person who loves another should ever feel the need or urge to use such extreme measures to meet resolutions, because if anything, problems do not get fixed this way.
In my opinion, people who turn to violence and abusive behavior always have a choice, and contrary to many people’s belief that domestic violence and abuse is due to the abuser’s loss of control over his or her behaviour, or them simply acting out of instinct, it is none but a deliberate choice (which could be avoided) made by the abuser, in an attempt to control the abused. To be so ignorant and in denial and to justify such an inhumane act, as most people do despite an ever-growing awareness, is a major cause for concern, because how will things ever change if people keep on believing that it is OK to condone abuse when it is done by your partner?
Other than that, when speaking of domestic violence, the first picture that is often drawn up in everyone’s head is a battered wife who has physically been violated by her husband. Truth is, this is rather misleading because men too could be victims of domestic violence and contrary to popular belief, it is not just women who suffer from domestic abuse, but men too. Many seem to overlook the fact that men can also be victims, and because of certain social stigmas that would otherwise (if reported) be attributed to them, men themselves often take domestic violence for granted.
Truth be told, I strongly believe that there is an urgent need to change the attitude in the way people view and approach the issue of domestic violence. There are ample organisations that offer protection and refuge to the abused nowadays, without the need to include the police. People should not be afraid to speak up. No one deserves to be beaten, nor bruised, nor verbally abused and truth in point if a person truly loves you, they would never go to that extent to harm you.
Always remember that a relationship where one partner feels the need to control, manipulate or dominate is no stable relationship, because a healthy relationship is one where two independent beings come together as equals.
