Mojatu Berkshire Magazine Issue B011

8 News & Sports
mojatu.com
So many colours of Domestic violence
Domestic violence throughout the years has been
a topic that many people will discuss with either
a biased view or will fail to address the actual
problem that is affecting the people affected by it.
Many women are subjected to abuse for a very long
time without realising what they are having to go
through and unfortunately, many may never live to
tell their story. It takes so much strength to live with a
violent partner. Sometimes women are so embarrassed
to report to the police what is happening to them or
even mention it to a friend.
”For a very long time, I thought violence against
women only happened when a woman would be
battered and hurt physically, little did I know that
the worst form of domestic violence is psychological
abuse. I saw red flags from the beginning, but I chose to
ignore them all. Simply because I believed in marriage.
I thought through unconditional love , I could change
people. I used to think I was capable of changing an
abusive partner through love. How wrong was I to
THE MANY COLOURS O
BY Esnas
have had such a mindset?” I could have died due to the
prolonged trauma that I was exposed to” .
A beautiful home A beautiful home is made up of two
loving people. When love begins to hurt, then it is not
love anymore.
Verbal abuse is sometimes discounted and overlooked,
when in reality, it can just be as damaging as physical
abuse. The thought that it is not really a serious abuse
and change of attitude may happen with time is quite
deceiving. Once an abusive partner always will be an
abusive partner. Women will ask themselves why they
never left many years ago; There have never been direct
answers to such questions. It has always been fear of
the unknown. Shame that marriage hasn’t worked. The
stigma that accompanies the divorce. Some continue
to live in abusive relationship with the hope that the
abusive partner will realise what the marriage means
to them and change. “if my children asked me where
their dad is, what will I tell them?” So is the fear of many
women .
There are so many reasons why women stay in an
abusive relationship. In Africa, many women will never
dare leave the abusive husband. It will bring shame
to her family; hence the pressure from her parents to
keep her abusive marriage going. It is believed that the
family’s reputation will be affected if a woman left her
husband and this will affect their social status in the
society. It has never been what the woman wants. It
has always been what the others want. In fact, some
men will brag about physically abusing their partners.
They think it is a sign of love.
Below are some of the most reasons why women
will decide to stay in an abusive relationship.
1. Fear
Women often are afraid of what will happen if they
decided to leave the relationship. This because
her abusive partner may have threatened to hurt