They are our sisters, our neighbors, our co-workers and even our mothers. Their faces pass us on the sidewalks and move through our worlds in a blur. You may never even notice their fear or their pain. Then again, you may find yourself wondering why she always hides her face and backs away from social activities and gatherings. Perhaps she used to be a social butterfly but suddenly, she ceases to exist outside of her home. Then again, maybe she used to be an introvert and is suddenly aggressive towards others for no apparent reason. No matter what the situation, abused women exist in every corner of the world. In some cultures, abused women are a dime a dozen. They are raised watching their mothers and siblings being abused. Men dominate and that is just the way their world works. Throughout the years, women have fought hard to achieve equality. Abuse is not supposed to be acceptable. However, no matter how far the female population has travelled to gain respect, abused women still walk among us.
Some abused women hide it incredibly well. They may cover up their bruises and avoid wearing clothing that would allow particular injuries to be seen. They have brilliant stories and tales for how they got that cut on their hand or those bruises on their legs. They laugh it off as simply being klutzy. Their friends, family and even coworkers deem their jokes as acceptable and shrug it off. Abused women tend to be able to take the focus off of themselves. They may not even think of themselves as being part of the abused women population that exists in the world.
No one starts out in life with the desire to be abused. Some abused women grow up watching their mothers being abused and swear that they will never allow that to happen to them. Years later, they find themselves standing in their mothers shoes and wondering how in the world they ever got to that moment. Some abused women grew up in a perfectly normal family environment and find themselves wondering why in the world they are tolerating an abusive situation.
Abused women carry scars that most people could never imagine. Some of them are visible on their outer shell their skin. Others carry their scars internally. A large amount of abused women tolerate verbal and emotional abuse far more than physical assaults. Verbally abused women are ridiculed on a daily basis. They are made to feel worthless and inferior. Some of those abused women struggle with their weight as a huge effect of this. Perhaps they eat as a means to deal with it. Their abusers thrive on tossing the insults in their direction because of their larger size. Other women will boycott food simply to gain control over some aspect of their out of control lives.
Abused women all deal with their misfortunes in a multitude of ways. Some become introverts. Some become aggressive with everyone in the world expect for their abuser. A handful of abused women will pass along the abuse to their children. The cycle seems endless. Most abused women wont accept help from outsiders. But some of them, just may be praying that someone, anyone, notices their predicament and comes to their aid. If you are one of those abused women who feels like they are dying inside, reach out to someone. If you arent an abused woman but just have this inkling that someone you know just may be, reach out to them. You may just find that you could be the one to save their entire world.
4:15 PM