abuse

Past trauma can and does impact domestic abuse survivors in the dating world. That doesn’t mean that we’re unworthy of love or incapable of finding it.

Women can still be punished for speaking up about domestic violence, and not just by losing a job but by a legal system that fails to protect them.

I doubt a day’s gone by when the #MeToo movement hasn’t been referenced in some way. I thought I’d finally have my day and say in court.

It took me a while to realize I was in an abusive relationship. It was nothing like I'd assumed abuse to feel like, but was exactly what abuse looks like.

Am I misrepresenting? Am I misunderstanding? Am I misremembering?

Online dating is a form of personal marketing, which is why so many find it inorganic and unromantic. But self-promotion forces you to ponder certain questions. Why would anyone want to date you? What do you bring to a relationship? After the abuse, answering such questions was healing. It’s similar to the glimmer of hope you feel writing a cover letter, even in the depths of unemployment, as the task forces you to play up your best qualities. You have to reflect on your self-worth. It is required.

The prevailing myth was that women had an unfair advantage in custody battles and that men were discriminated against.

[CN: emotional abuse and gaslighting, description of sexual assault.] As a three-time survivor of intimate partner violence, I hate what he did to me, but I don't hate the person with whom I fell in love — not even a little bit. My love for him will always exist.