Domestic violence can be difficult to consider when you are a victim. The difficulty lies in the fact that someone we love and who loves us is hurting us. There are many negative emotions attached to Domestic Violence, including shame, guilt, etc.

When we have children with a partner who abuses us, things become even more complicated.

When we think of someone who loves us, the first thing we think of as women is, as in the fairy tales, someone who will love us, cherish us, and protect us.  We never quite think about in those very few moments of love bliss, that the one who professes love for us could actually become a monster.  One who literally is capable of hurting us, not only emotionally, but also painfully physically and/or sexually. 

Domestic violence is 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. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and emotional or psychological abuse.

The frequency and severity of domestic violence varies dramatically. (NCADV.org)