The Emotional Abuse Woman Summary

Abuse is behaviour towards a person which deliberately or unintentionally causes harm to them. It is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights and in the worst cases can result in death.

* Emotional/psychological abuse: threats of harm/abandonment, over controlling, harassment, intimidation & withdrawal from support networks/services

Abuse is any form of mistreatment by any other person or even persons that will violate an individual 's basic human and civil rights. The abuse can vary, from treating someone with disrespect in a way that significantly affects the person 's quality of life, to causing actual physical or mental suffering, either over a short term or a long term of time, clearly the longer it goes on the worse the

Abuse is when a carer tries to control or dominate another person. It can be physically, emotionally harmful, arousing fear in an individual, preventing them from doing what they want, or forcing them to do something against their will. Abuse can happen to anyone but it mostly happens to people who are vulnerable like a

Intimidation, not being included, being ignored, threats, bullying, humiliating and blaming. These include discrimination that relates to age, race, gender, sexuality, culture, religion etc.

This refers to the psychological or emotional exploitation of the relationship between a care worker/person and a service

There are many different types of abuse and individual cases of abuse usually involve a different combination of these different types.

The abuse is usually frequent enough that the victim internalizes it. This leaves the victim feeling fearful, insignificant, untrusting, emotionally needy, and unlovable. Survivors of this form of abuse have a hard time understanding why they feel so bad (Munro, K. 2001.).

While not a somatic assault, emotional abuse can cause lasting effects on a woman’s health, so much so that researcher, B. Van Houdenhove and others working on the project have found “that emotional abuse and neglect may be contributing factors to the development and/or severity of illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia” (Karakurt and Silver). Finally, emotional abuse is a rampant issue, Karakurt and Silver report that “Psychological aggression by an intimate partner was reported by 48.4% of women,” which was found in the National Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey (“Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships: The Role of Gender and Age”). Nearly half of the population of women report being victims to psychological abuse, making it a widespread epidemic faced by not only women in dystopian novels but also real life. Psychological abuse can take many verbal and non-verbal forms, which can put great strain on a woman’s health, and affects nearly half the population of the United States.

Every choice that an abused woman considers to do with regards in seeking help or ending the relationship involves a variety of risks. Time and time again, the common question arises, “why doesn’t she just leave?” Most often abused women, at great and potentially fatal risk, do leave their abusive relationships. However, there is a multitude of barriers, including increasing abuse and the potential for re-victimization by the system that does not respond accordingly, and most often force many women to return to their abusers. A woman may become vulnerable as she goes through the stages of leaving her abuser. There are many reasons why a woman becomes vulnerable; guilt, denial, and fear may be among a few reasons, though no matter what the

Some women take the position that “hope springs eternal” for people in love and they shouldn’t be held accountable for the abusive spousal choices they make. That is precisely the kind of romantic notion that men and women cling to and use to seduce them into staying in relationships in which there is abundant evidence that they should leave. Often friends and parents try to intervene but when “hope springs eternal” obvious dangers are overlooked, denied and women tell themselves something like, “If I just love him enough, he’ll change.” Battered men usually say exactly the same things. “What is needed in situations of verbal and physical abuse and danger is not romantic fantasy but a critical and self-protective assessment of the facts followed by a decision based on those facts”(Walker 17).

Domestic abuse is a startling issue in today’s society, and there are many different forms of it. Domestic abuse is defined as “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” [1]. There are numerous forms of domestic abuse, including both physical and emotional violence. Many people who are trapped in these toxic relationships often feel helpless and worthless, and may think they have no way to escape their situation. However, with the right guidance and support, they can free themselves and emerge as a stronger person.

Although all therapists are aware of the childhood emotional abuse issue, it is possible that only few therapists understand the scope of the issue. Emotional maltreatment is harder to detect than other forms of abuse because it is more subtle. When Child Protective Services (CPS) conduct family assessments, it is the hardest form of abuse to prove because parents are very open about the topic and emotional abuse does not leave any physical evidence behind. However, it certainly influences a child's self-esteem, promotes the feeling of guilt, insecurity, and creates the inability to form stable relationships during adulthood. Although some behavioral disorders are related to emotional abuse, it is not possible to predict it correctly

     There are various forms of emotional abuse but they all contribute to the victim as feeling helpless and inability. One form of emotional abuse is verbal dominance. Meaning the victims opinions, feelings and thoughts carry no weight and are pretty much meaningless. A second form of emotional abuse is isolation, this occurs when the abuser limits the victims access to money, use of the car and other normal activities. The abuser also talks negatively about friends and family making it uncomfortable to maintain outside relationships. A third form of emotional abuse is guilt, this occurs when the abuser blames the spouse for his/her assaultive behavior with rationale, after a period of time the spouse blames self for the battering. A fourth form is fear; the abuser threatens harm to spouse, family or friends in order to stay in control of a situation. Finally a fifth form of spousal abuse is humiliation, this is when the abuser may put down the spouse in front of children, family and friends. (Wallace)

Many women stay with an abusive partner for five main reasons: social background, financial problems, lack of family support, traditions and values (Gharaibeh & Oweis, 2009). Violence against women is a severe problem that creates a negative environment. As a result, other individuals living in the family are also negatively affected when there are sudden changes in a household. Moreover, society needs to acknowledge these negative impacts that occur within the household against women. When violence is perpetuated within families, children often observe their parents and thus reflect violent characteristics in their behaviours; thereby, such features can be passed on for generations. In addition, a positive environment must be enforced for families that are affected by domestic violence; understanding the negative effects is the first