The Twitter hashtag #WhyIStayed is a must read (trigger warning)

[sufrommich]

for those who have trouble understanding why women stay with abusers.Some examples:

"After never having a solid & positive example of what a healthy romantic relationship looked like I thought it was normal #WhyIStayed'

He described to me how he would kill himself if I left #WhyIStayed


#WhyIStayed bc abusive parents taught me i had to earn any (faux) love by degrading myself, silencing my gut instincts, that i was unworthy


#WhyIStayed bcuz the fights were only once a quarter & of all the other women I was the only one he beat up. Didn't that make me special?



#WhyIStayed Because sometimes I really believed him when he said it was my fault.


#WhyIStayed because I believed in him and his willingness to change. I believed in us. People called us perfect. So we must be, right?


Bc about 75% of women are murdered by their batterers when they try to leave or after they left an abusive relationship #WhyIStayed


#WhyIStayed Because the time I tried to find someone who would let me stay with them, no one was willing.


#WhyIStayed because it took me a year and half of careful planning to get out alive







Another important hashtag to follow is #WhenILeft:


#WhenILeft he sent a postcard to my mother of with a butchered unicorn on it that said, "this is what Robin did to me."


#WhenILeft He showed up at my new apartment with no warning. I learned to circle the parking lot so I could scope it out before going home.


#WhenILeft He would get drunk at bars, then call me and scream that I was a whore.


#WhenILeft I lied about where I would meet him, emptied the gun safe, scooped up the kids, and put a mountain range between us.


#WhenILeft it was because my daughter reminded me of how much power I had. These I was worthy of being safe.


#WhenILeft I lost a lot of friends. They thought I was telling people for attention. Fuck them all. I'm so much happier. IT GETS BETTER!