On the occasion of today's Valentine's Day, Safe Women's House said that love should never include any form of violence and abuse.
While the holidays are a time to celebrate love, they stressed, it's also important to raise awareness about the dangers of abusive relationships, the behavior patterns of abusers and the warning signs.
"While in healthy relationships and marriages, bouquets of flowers and candies can be an expression of love and attention, in violent relationships, such gifts are only a link in the 'vicious cycle of abuse' and one of the reasons why it is difficult for women who have experienced violence to end the relationship with their an abuser," the statement said.
The "cycle of abuse", they add, consists of three different phases: the "honeymoon" phase, the rising tension phase and the explosion phase.
"The relationship begins with the 'honeymoon' phase when the abuser creates the illusion of a safe and loving environment, showering the partner with attention, gifts and compliments. During the second phase the relationship begins to become strained and the abused person becomes aware of the increasing tension. The abusive partner uses tactics such as are ignoring, blaming, questioning, jealousy, manipulation, psychological games, etc. The tension continues to rise until it reaches the explosive stage when violent behavior occurs, whether it is verbal, psychological, sexual or physical," according to Sigurna women's houses.
After the violence, the partner will try to return the relationship to the "honeymoon" phase by apologizing, showering the partner with gifts and love, and promises that he will change and that the incident behavior will never happen again. "This type of manipulation has only one purpose. , which is to instill hope in the woman that love exists, that the relationship will improve and that all the beautiful things they have experienced should not be dismissed just like that. A woman, who may still love her partner, is often convinced that the abuser will fulfill his promises and that the relationship will improve. However, this is usually only a temporary respite, as tension will begin to rise again and the cycle of abuse will repeat itself."
Cycles of abuse along with long-term psychological violence destroy a woman's self-confidence, her sense of worth as a human being, take away her sense of control over her own life, which is why it can seem impossible for her to end such a relationship and break free. "This can be especially pronounced at the time of Valentine's Day, when we are more susceptible to romanticizing our partner and finding justifications for all his bad behavior, and convincing ourselves that it is all natural, a matter of character or circumstances, but that our partner loves us deep down," they point out from Women's safe houses.
They said that they encourage all women who experience psychological, physical, economic or sexual abuse in a relationship or marriage to reach out for help and support. "The Safe Women's House hotline 069/013-321 is available 24 hours a day. We provide all women with experience of violence free accommodation in a shelter, initial counseling, psychological and legal help and support, as the services of a confidential person. It is important to remember that no one deserves violence and that different types of help are available," the statement concluded.
The project "Hear, psychological violence, what do you mean?" implemented by the Safe Women's House and financed by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.
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